Bill on direct gubernatorial elections to be prioritized<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The people will soon elect their governors, regents and mayors
\ndirectly, due to the planned revision of law No. 22\/1999.<\/p>\n
Legislators in the House of Representatives (DPR) said on
\nMonday that the revision of the Regional Administration law would
\nbe put on top of the priority list as the House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR) begins its current session.<\/p>\n
The revision, they said, would focus on providing regions with
\nthe needed legal basis to hold direct elections of governors,
\nmayors and regents.<\/p>\n
Currently, governors, mayors and regents are elected by the
\nlocal legislative council (DPRD) members.<\/p>\n
Members of the House's special committee (Pansus) in charge of
\nbill deliberation unanimously appointed Teras Narang of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Monday to
\nchair the deliberation process.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Teras has been appointed committee chairman and we will
\ndiscuss the agenda of deliberation on Thursday,\" said Samuel Koto
\nof the Reform faction.<\/p>\n
Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa of Golkar and Ma'ruf Amien of the
\nNational Awakening Party (PKB) will be deputy chairmen of the
\ncommittee.<\/p>\n
The special committee will not revise all articles of the
\nregional administration law, but will simply focus on the direct
\nelections for regional leaders.<\/p>\n
The direct elections are mandated by article 18 (4) of the
\nnewly amended constitution.<\/p>\n
Separately, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung emphasized on Monday
\nthat the House would prioritize the deliberation of some bills to
\nsupport the amended Constitution.<\/p>\n
\"As an example, we will put the presidency bill as our
\npriority because it is mandated by the Constitution,\" he said
\nafter presiding over a meeting between leaders of House
\ncommissions and leaders of 14 special committees for various
\nissues.<\/p>\n
The crucial meeting for all House leaders, however, apparently
\nwas not interesting enough for deputy House speakers Soetardjo
\nSoerjogoeritno of PDI Perjuangan, Muhaimin Iskandar of PKB and
\nA.M. Fatwa of the National Mandate Party (PAN) as the three left
\nthe meeting before it ended.<\/p>\n
Akbar explained that House members only had 123 working days
\nto deliberate on and endorse 56 bills before they concluded their
\nfive-year terms in October.<\/p>\n
He called on fellow lawmakers to reduce meetings with
\nministers or constituents so they could concentrate on the
\ndeliberation of the bills.<\/p>\n
\"We want fellow lawmakers to focus on finishing the bills and
\nscheduling less meetings outside the House,\" he said.<\/p>\n
House leaders will discuss the issues with President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri during a consultative meeting next week, Akbar
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Bills on priority<\/p>\n
No. Bills Status<\/p>\n
1. Revisions of Law No. 22\/1999 on Regional Administration Starting to deliberate<\/p>\n
2. Establishment of Judicial Commission At State Secretariat<\/p>\n
3. Presidency At State Secretariat<\/p>\n
4. Revisions of the State Audit Agency (BPK) In preparation at House<\/p>\n
5. Protection of Migrant Workers At State Secretariat<\/p>\n
6. Procedure of Legislation In process of deliberation<\/p>\n
7. Revisions of Law No. 7\/1992 on Banking Not yet discussed<\/p>\n
8. State Finance Audit Not yet discussed<\/p>\n
9. The 2005 State Budget At State Secretariat<\/p>\n
Source: House's Legislation Body (Baleg)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bill-on-direct-gubernatorial-elections-to-be-prioritized-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }