House refuses to discuss bill on development plan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives on Monday postponed
\ninitial hearing on a bill on the National Development Program
\n(Propenas) due to the absence of Coordinating Minister for the
\nEconomy Rizal Ramli.<\/p>\n
In a plenary session, led by House deputy speaker A.M. Fatwa,
\nlegislators decided to postpone the hearing although Rizal had
\nassigned State Minister for Cooperatives and Small\/Medium
\nEnterprises Zarkasih Noer and Junior Minister for the
\nRestructuring of the National Economy Cacuk Sudarijanto to
\nrepresent him.<\/p>\n
It was unclear why Rizal was unable to attend the hearing as
\nin the morning he had attended a Cabinet meeting at the Merdeka
\nPalace. According to legislators, they were told Rizal had to go
\nto Brunei.<\/p>\n
Many legislators seemed disappointed with Rizal's absence for
\nsuch an important session. Fatwa, after consulting faction
\nleaders, decided to postpone the proceeding to Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"Rizal who was appointed by the President, cannot ask other
\nministers to represent him. Zarkasih and Cacuk should be
\nappointed by the President or Vice-President to represent the
\ngovernment in discussing the bill,\" Fatwa later told journalists.<\/p>\n
But some legislators felt the decision by the House to
\npostpone the proceeding based on a technicality was being
\noverzealous.<\/p>\n
\"It's just the House being immature,\" sighed Golkar Party
\nlegislator Hajriyanto Tohari.<\/p>\n
Repelita<\/p>\n
The Propenas is essentially designed to replace the Replita,
\nthe Five-Year Development Program which was drafted during the
\nSoeharto era as a blueprint to chart the nation's development.<\/p>\n
The drafting of Propenas was set out under the People's
\nConsultative Assembly's decree No. 4\/1999 on state guidelines.<\/p>\n
It focuses on five main objectives:<\/p>\n
Develop a democratic political system and maintain national
\nunity.<\/p>\n
Uphold legal supremacy and clean governance.<\/p>\n
Accelerate economic recovery while enhancing sustainable and
\njust development.<\/p>\n
Ensure people's welfare and cultural resilience.<\/p>\n
Foster regional development.<\/p>\n
The government claims that Propenas differs greatly from
\nRepelita in its objectives, concept and formulation.<\/p>\n
In its agenda, which is due to be handed to the House,
\nPropenas, which is designed to cover the 2001-2005 period, adopts
\na more strategic approach, focusing on specific and pressing
\nissues unlike Repelita which was more comprehensive and
\nsectorial.<\/p>\n
This was due to the reality that the state simply lacks the
\nfinancial resources to engage in a comprehensive sectorial
\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n
Thus only programs considered crucial and directly helps
\nalleviate the crisis are given priority.<\/p>\n
The five objectives was selected after considering several
\ncrosscutting issues: widening people's participation in political
\nand economic process through decentralization; establishment of
\ngood governance; reducing poverty and economic disparity; gender
\nequality; and environmental protection.<\/p>\n
On the first objective of developing a democratic political
\nsystem, Propenas advocates decreasing the military's role in
\npolitics, including reformation within the military institution
\nitself.<\/p>\n
Other issues include elections, political parties and the
\nrelationships between state institutions.<\/p>\n
The second objective highlights the problem of upholding the
\nsupremacy of the law and establishing a clean government as a
\nwhole, as many laws are passed but their implementations are weak
\ndue to, among other things, the quality of human resources.<\/p>\n
This has also contributed to the lingering crisis.<\/p>\n
The third objective, on the economy, stresses the need for
\nmacrostability, bank and corporate debt restructuring and
\nstructural adjustments on the market with the aim of establishing
\na people's economy.<\/p>\n
The fourth objective on people's welfare and cultural
\nresilience, points to decentralization as a means of resolving
\nrising unemployment and the deterioration in the education and
\nhealth care system.<\/p>\n
The fifth objective aims to further empower the people as past
\ncentralized policies had been unresponsive to local demands and
\ntended to suppress local innovations. (jun)<\/p>",
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