House criticized over ministry bill<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Legal experts criticized the House of Representatives on Thursday
\nfor being too diligent in deliberating the ministerial offices
\nbill, suggesting that the lawmakers focus solely on the setting
\nup of basic ministries.<\/p>\n
A House special committee for the bill's deliberation
\nannounced on Tuesday that it would offer 31 ministries to the
\nnext president.<\/p>\n
Of the 31 ministries, 21 will have supporting offices in the
\nregions (known as portfolio ministries) while the remaining 10
\nwill only have offices in Jakarta (non-portfolio ministries).<\/p>\n
The bill is still to be discussed with the government.<\/p>\n
Currently, the government of President Megawati Soekarnoputri
\nhas 30 ministerial offices, including those of three coordinating
\nministers.<\/p>\n
"Of course, stipulations in the bill must not limit the rights
\nof the president. There must be a clause that allows the
\npresident to form ministries after consultation with the House,"
\nSri Soemantri of Padjadjaran University told The Jakarta Post
\nhere on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He suggested that House members focus solely on the
\nestablishment of portfolio ministries and give the president the
\nchance to compile a complete list of ministerial offices.<\/p>\n
While the country has a presidential system, the amended
\nConstitution stipulates that ministerial offices be regulated by
\nlaw, allowing the House to intervene in a president's choice of
\ngovernment members.<\/p>\n
Bambang Widjojanto from the Partnership for Governance Reform
\nalso questioned the "ambition" of House members to dictate to the
\nnext president.<\/p>\n
"The House should only discuss the need of the government to
\nbeing the country out of the prolonged crisis without mentioning
\nthe number of ministerial offices," he said.<\/p>\n
Bambang doubted that the bill's deliberation was the work of
\nthe House given the fact that only a small number of legislators
\nwere involved in the deliberation.<\/p>\n
Roughly, fewer than 15 legislators of the 50-strong committee
\nregularly attend deliberations of the bill.<\/p>\n
"Is it the agenda of the House or a political exercise of a
\nfew legislators?" he asked.<\/p>\n
Legislators Achmad Hafiz Zawawi and Baharuddin Aritonang also
\nquestioned on Thursday the inclusion of the ministry of finance
\nand development supervision on the list of 31 ministries outlined
\nby the House.<\/p>\n
Aritonang said the inclusion of the ministry of finance and
\ndevelopment supervision would only create dualism in the state
\naudit.<\/p>\n
"The state audit is the responsibility of the State Audit
\nAgency (BPK)," said Aritonang, who is also a BPK member
\ncandidate.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the plan to revive the ministry of youth affairs
\nand sports, Sri Soemantri said that the ministry was needed to
\nboost the achievements of Indonesian athletes.<\/p>\n
Regarding the presence of the Ministry of Religious Affairs,
\nSri said that the ministry was a legacy of past administrations.<\/p>\n
Principally, Sri agreed with the composition of the
\nministerial offices prepared by the legislators.<\/p>\n
According to him, 31 ministries were sufficient to deal with
\nthe problems of the country's 215 million people.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-criticized-over-ministry-bill-1447893297",
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