House, govt need to communicate<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Minister of Law and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin on Tuesday
\ncalled for intensive communication between the House of
\nRepresentatives and the government to avoid deadlock in the law-
\nmaking process.<\/p>\n
\"A joint team must be set up before the deliberation of a bill
\nto avoid deadlock and minimize the influence of sectoral
\ninterests in the law-making process,\" Hamid said during a hearing
\nwith the House's legislation committee.<\/p>\n
The hearing was organized as part of the preparations for the
\ndrawing up of the new national legislation program (prolegnas),
\nwhich sets out legislative priorities.<\/p>\n
Legislation committee deputy chairman Pataniari Siahaan of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said that
\naround 140 bills would be deliberated between 2004 and 2009.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, the House and the government need to reach a
\ncommon understanding,\" he said, adding that the committee also
\nelicited and listened to the views of non-governmental
\norganizations (NGOs) and community groups.<\/p>\n
The House failed to deliberate 61 bills during the 1999-2004
\nperiod, apparently because the House and the government did not
\nhave a common understanding about which bills should be
\nprioritized.<\/p>\n
A controversial example of the conflicting approaches of the
\nHouse and the government is the bill amending Law No.36\/2000 on
\nthe Batam free trade zone.<\/p>\n
Despite strong opposition from the government, the House
\ninsisted on passing its own bill.<\/p>\n
The problem was apparently caused by the fact that the House
\nand the government proposed two separate versions of the bill.<\/p>\n
In its own bill, the government stated that free trade status
\nshould be conferred on specific parts of Batam while the House
\ninsisted on maintaining full free trade status for the whole
\nisland.<\/p>\n
During the hearing, Hamid said the government would prioritize
\nbills required by the Constitution, bills to repeal or amend
\noutdated laws and promote economic growth and technological
\ndevelopment, and bills that were left over from the previous
\nHouse.<\/p>\n
The minister emphasized that the government would also ratify
\na number of conventions to sustain good relations with the
\ninternational community.<\/p>\n
Legislation committee member Djuhad Mahja said, meanwhile,
\nthat the committee should be the center of the legislative
\nprocess in the House. He regretted that some House commissions
\noften insisted on deliberating certain bills despite the fact
\nthat it was up to the committee to decide.<\/p>\n
\"The House commission suffer from inflated egos as regards the
\nlaw-making process,\" he said, adding that this had the potential
\nto disrupt the efforts develop an effective legislative system.<\/p>",
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