Bill needed for President, VP coordination<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The National Awakening Party (PKB) faction in the House of
\nRepresentatives criticized the government of President Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono for poor coordination among his administration
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
The faction demanded that the House and the government start
\ndeliberating on the presidency bill to prevent a rivalry between
\nthe President and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.<\/p>\n
\"Our faction will push for deliberation of the presidency
\nbill,\" PKB faction secretary Helmy Faishal Zaini said during a
\npress conference to announce the faction's evaluation of the
\nfirst 100 days of the government here on Monday.<\/p>\n
The House and the government have been engaged in drawn out
\ndiscussions dealing with which bills would be put on the priority
\nlist this year. Legislators said that approximately 50 bills
\nwould be prioritized for the next 11 months.<\/p>\n
Helmy gave two examples of poor coordination among the
\ngovernment officials, both of which involved Vice President Jusuf
\nKalla.<\/p>\n
The first example is the issuance of a circular by Prijono
\nTjiptoherijanto, secretary of the vice presidential office. In
\nthe circular intended for Cabinet ministers and heads of state
\ninstitutions, Prijono said that the circular was based on the
\nvice president's briefing.<\/p>\n
The circular implied that hearings with the House were not
\nimportant and its deliberations a waste of time. The circular has
\nprompted irate legislators to summon the President for an
\nexplanation.<\/p>\n
The second example is the issuance of a \"vice presidential
\ndecree\" on the establishment of a national team for disaster
\nmitigation in Aceh. (Under the country's state administration
\nsystem, only the President has the right to issue a decree).<\/p>\n
\"The issuance of the circular and the decree clearly show that
\nthe vice president has carried out actions beyond his authority,\"
\nHelmy added.<\/p>\n
Concerning government policies in corruption eradication, the
\nPKB faction hailed the measures taken by the government in
\ndealing with graft cases involving councillors in several
\nregions.<\/p>\n
\"However, it is regrettable that only a few of the big
\ncorruption cases have been taken on so far,\" Helmy added.<\/p>\n
Data from the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) says that the
\nAttorney General's Office had in 2004 terminated the
\ninvestigation into 40 graft cases, 12 of which related to the
\nBank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI), which centers on the
\ndisbursement of billions of dollars worth of funds to ailing
\nbanks in the wake of the late 1990s financial crisis.<\/p>\n
The PKB faction also criticized poor coordination among the
\nlaw enforcers: the National Police, the Attorney General's
\nOffice, and the Corruption Eradication Commission.<\/p>\n
Separately, spokesman of the State Audit Agency (BPK)
\nBaharuddin Aritonang also criticized the government for showing
\nno intention to cooperate with the agency in dealing with
\ncorruption eradication.<\/p>\n
\"Corruption eradication requires coordination among state
\ninstitutions. The government should not ignore other state
\nagencies,\" Aritonang added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bill-needed-for-president-vp-coordination-1447893297",
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