House seeks pay increase despite poor form<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
They come, stay a while, murmur a few words, laugh, leave and get
\npaid.<\/p>\n
A few of the House of Representatives lawmakers do raise their
\nvoices and deliver critical points, but most of the time they are
\novershadowed by a host of others who are busy with their cellular
\nphones and cigarettes, or just taking a comfortable nap.<\/p>\n
Some ask questions during hearing sessions, but then check out
\nof the room before an answer is produced.<\/p>\n
Some arrive ridiculously late, at times just as a session is
\nwrapping up, just to sign the attendance list.<\/p>\n
Those who fail to turn up for scheduled meetings are often not
\nin their offices because they are either out of the city or the
\ncountry, sometimes on business unrelated to their job.<\/p>\n
Quite recently, Fridays have stopped being a workday, although
\ntheir own regulations say otherwise. Fridays are officially
\ndesignated for lawmakers to engage with their respective
\nfactions, perhaps to discuss various important issues.<\/p>\n
The 550 House members have on their hands 55 bills that are
\nscheduled to be completed this year, which increasingly appears
\nunlikely to happen. These 55 bills are among 284 drafts scheduled
\nfor completion by the end of the lawmakers' term in 2009.<\/p>\n
To date, eight months after their inauguration, the lawmakers
\nhave only passed the revision of the 2005 state budget, which
\nhappened last week.<\/p>\n
They just began the deliberation of a sports bill last week,
\nwhile other crucial bills are only in the early stages of
\ndeliberation. All of this work will come to a pause when the
\nHouse begins its scheduled month-long recess starting July 8.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Agung Laksono stands by his promise that the
\nlegislative body will finish deliberating and pass the 55 bills
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
As well they might, given that the House Secretariat recently
\ncompleted a proposal to raise the salaries of lawmakers by over
\n100 percent.<\/p>\n
There is also a proposal to give legislators bigger
\nallowances, for the purpose of helping the lawmakers spend more
\ntime with their constituents across the country.<\/p>\n
A final proposal says House members will be provided with an
\nadditional Rp 15 million (US$1,560), deputy speakers Rp 22
\nmillion and the speaker Rp 30 million for unspecified
\n\"operational work\".<\/p>\n
The House Secretariat says most of the additional money will
\nbe for allowances for trips and services, which in theory should
\nbe reimbursed only after the job is done.<\/p>\n
The proposal, however, lumps these allowances into the
\nlawmakers' fixed take-home pay.<\/p>\n
Legislators recently said their \"poor performance\" was largely
\nthe result of their \"low\" salaries, which left them with little
\nmoney to take business trips or rent hotel conference rooms to
\ndraft bills.<\/p>\n
Several others say larger allowances are necessary to hire
\nexperts to assist them in their legislative function.<\/p>\n
Tommy Legowo from the legislative watchdog Formappi supports
\nefforts to fairly compensate lawmakers, but warns against giving
\nthem more cash in the form of allowances.<\/p>\n
\"If they receive cash, who knows what they will spend it on. I
\nsupport the idea of improving their welfare but only if it is
\ntied to efforts to enhance their performance, but the money
\nshould be properly allocated,\" he said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Tommy, who is a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and
\nInternational Studies, said lawmakers had been making progress
\ncompared to their predecessors in terms of their critical
\noutlook.<\/p>\n
\"But there are still moments where they engage in debates that
\nare not substantial but only concern procedural issues,\" he said.<\/p>",
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