House committee split on scope of rules review<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The committee to review the House of
\nRepresentatives' internal rules entered its second day of
\ndeliberations yesterday divided over the scope of its work.<\/p>\n
Golkar legislator Syamsul Mu'arif said the committee should
\nleave talks on cutting the number of House commissions to a
\nplenary meeting.<\/p>\n
Syamsul, who assumed the gavel for the House rules review
\ncommittee yesterday from its chairman Soerjadi, said that present
\nmembers should not try to change the number of commissions.<\/p>\n
This was for new House members, who will be sworn in on Oct.
\n1, to determine, he said.<\/p>\n
Armed Forces legislator L.J. Arifin said the committee should
\ntry to cover as many issues as possible, including the number of
\ncommissions.<\/p>\n
Markus Wauran of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) said
\nthe committee was too small to deliberate crucial issues such as
\nthe House's internal rules.<\/p>\n
The matters should be brought up in an open plenary meeting to
\nallow maximum discussion, he said.<\/p>\n
The decision to review the House's internal rules and
\nproceedings came following the PDI's election debacle in May
\nwhich saw its representation in the House slashed from 52 seats
\nto 11 in the next term which begins in October.<\/p>\n
PDI and the other minority party, the United Development Party
\n(PPP), have long demanded changes in the House's internal rules
\nwhich they said were too restrictive and stifled democracy.
\nGolkar, which has a strong majority in the House, has opposed
\ntheir demands.<\/p>\n
At the center of the debate is the number of commissions in
\nthe House. With 11 commissions, the PDI will only be able to
\nfield one representative in each commission. This means that
\nshould its representative fail to turn up, a commission, under
\ncurrent House rules, could not hold a meeting, let alone make a
\ndecision.<\/p>\n
Some legislators have suggested merging the House commissions,
\nbut others have proposed doing away with the power of House
\nfactions by allowing decisions to be made by head counts.<\/p>\n
House leaders have given the committee until July 22 to come
\nup with recommendations, hoping that any new rules could be
\nenacted before legislators end their five-year term in September.<\/p>\n
Syamsul said yesterday's committee meeting had discussed the
\nschedule, mechanism and scope of its work.<\/p>\n
The meeting had made an inventory of issues to be discussed by
\nthe committee, he said.<\/p>\n
He said the proposals from each faction would be made public
\nbefore discussions on them begin in earnest on July 10.<\/p>\n
Last March, the PPP faction tried to submit a paper on rule
\nchanges to the House but it was rejected even before it reached
\nthe floor.<\/p>\n
PPP legislator Alimarwan Hanan said his faction was proposing
\nto do away with a rule requiring that a commission meeting must
\nbe attended by every faction. A quorum based on minimum
\nattendance should suffice, he said.<\/p>\n
The faction was proposing that House rules formally stipulate
\nthat members work five days a week, something which was already
\npracticed although the rules still recognized a six-day working
\nweek, Alimarwan said.<\/p>\n
The PPP was also proposing to eliminate the Budgetary
\nCommission and replace it with a committee consisting of
\nrepresentatives from each of the 10 commissions, he said. (39)<\/p>",
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