50 bills on this year's priority list<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives and the government have agreed to
\nput 50 bills in their priority program for this year, with many
\nof the bills being from previous sessions.<\/p>\n
The agreement was reached after a series of closed-door
\nmeetings over the past three days, legislator Bomer Pasaribu, a
\nmember of the House's Legislation Body (Baleg), said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Separately, fellow legislator Mutammimul Ula said that the
\nnumber of prioritized bills could still change, depending on the
\ncomplexity of the bill and the availability of funds for the
\ndeliberation process.<\/p>\n
\"Theoretically, we could make 50 bills as priorities, but I
\ndon't think we would be able to finish them. The law-making
\nprocess very much depends on available budget,\" he told The
\nJakarta Post after the meeting on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Among the 50 are bills on the cabinet ministry, the
\npresidential advisory board, the development planning system, and
\nwitness protection. The complete list of bills would be announced
\nto the public after a House plenary meeting scheduled for Feb. 1.<\/p>\n
Deliberating 50 bills in one year will be a hard task for the
\nlegislators. It will mean that legislators would have to discuss
\nnearly 12 bills in four sitting sessions, with each session
\nlasting two months, plus a one-month recess.<\/p>\n
The 1999-2004 legislature became a target of public criticism
\nfor failing to meet their deliberation targets. On average,
\nlegislators could only finish five or six bills every sitting
\nsession.<\/p>\n
In addition to the agreement on the number of prioritized
\nbills, legislators and the government also agreed to adopt a one-
\nstop-shop mechanism to accelerate the law-making process.<\/p>\n
Under the new mechanism, the government will channel bills
\nthrough the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, while the Baleg
\nwill handle bills proposed by the House.<\/p>\n
Bomer of the Golkar Party faction said that he hoped the new
\nmechanism would produce better quality law and improve
\nconsistency between legislation in the future.<\/p>\n
In addition, the new mechanism would also strengthen checks
\nand balances on the House's commissions and the Baleg, thus
\nreducing the possibility bribery during the law-making process.<\/p>\n
Under the existing procedure, the Cabinet ministries are
\nallowed to draft their own bills and submit them to the House for
\ndeliberation.<\/p>\n
House commissions are also allowed to draft bills and to
\ninvite relevant ministries to discuss the bills.<\/p>\n
This procedure has been prone to abuse, with bribery often
\noccurring to ensure that bills are passed. The ministry proposing
\nthe bill often had to bribe legislators to get them to discuss
\nand agree to the bill.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mutammimul of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)
\nsaid he hoped the government would provide additional funds to
\nhelp finance the law-making process.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/50-bills-on-this-years-priority-list-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}