House to encourage its members to initiate laws<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The new House of Representatives (DPR) will be
\nexpected to play a more active role in making legislation, House
\nSpeaker Harmoko said yesterday.<\/p>\n
He said that he and other House leaders had agreed to
\nencourage fellow legislators to initiate legislation.<\/p>\n
\"Insya Allah, or God willing, we (House leaders) will
\nencourage legislators to use their Initiative Rights,\" he said in
\na surprise visit to the House's Press Room.<\/p>\n
Harmoko, who is also chairman of the dominant Golkar, admitted
\nthat House legislators have never exercised such initiative
\nrights in the past.<\/p>\n
\"The initiative to propose a bill used to come from the
\ngovernment,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The 1945 Constitution stipulates that legislative initiatives
\ncan come either from the government or the House. The
\nconstitution also stipulates that the House and the President
\nwill jointly approve legislation.<\/p>\n
Harmoko pledged that he would put all his efforts into
\nimproving the quality of the legislative body.<\/p>\n
Asked about how the new House would deal with the backlog of
\nbills that accumulated toward the end of the previous House term,
\nHarmoko said the House would reschedule meetings of House working
\ncommittees.<\/p>\n
Legislators of the previous House had to work overtime during
\nthe last days of their term to deal with all the bills before it.<\/p>\n
Harmoko, in a bid to improve the House-government partnership
\nin dealing with state matters, called on the government to
\nimplement every House recommendation, usually issued at the end
\nof every hearing.<\/p>\n
\"Every House recommendation is a binding agreement. The House
\nwill continuously question the government until it carries out
\nthe recommendation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Some political observers have called the hearings with the
\ngovernment useless, saying that none of the recommendations have
\nbeen executed by the government.<\/p>\n
Harmoko said the press should be encouraged to make use of the
\nHouse as a \"fertile\" source of information.<\/p>\n
\"A lot of House legislators are newsworthy as they are smart,
\nable to express their opinions and ideas attractively and are
\ncompetent,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Harmoko, former minister of information for three consecutive
\nterms, said that journalists would be given the freedom to cover
\nHouse activities.<\/p>\n
\"It will be interesting for the public if all arguments in an
\nopen House hearing can appear in the newspapers and on
\ntelevision,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"And I am sure that the government would like such exposure,
\nparticularly when it is coupled with solutions to problems,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian press has often been criticized for its
\nlopsided coverage of the House. For instance, it has been accused
\nof reporting only the statements of government officials during
\nhearings and neglecting those of the legislators.<\/p>\n
Commissions<\/p>\n
Chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) House faction,
\nHamzah Haz, announced the party's lineup in the House's eight
\ncommissions and two agencies yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"Our legislators will chair two House Commissions and one
\nagency -- Commission I, Commission VII and the Internal House
\nAffairs Commission,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
Hamzah said Aisyah Aminy will chair Commission I for security
\nand defense, legal and information affairs; Zarkasih Nur will
\nchair Commission VII for education, religious and youth and
\nsports affairs, the National Institute of Science, the National
\nLibrary and the National Atomic Agency and Soelaiman Biyahimo
\nwill chair the Internal House Affairs Agency.<\/p>\n
Hamzah also named legislators who will be deputies to the
\nchairpersons of the remaining seven commissions.<\/p>\n
Golkar legislators will chair Commission III for agriculture,
\nforestry, transmigration and food affairs; Commission IV for
\npublic works, transportation, post and telecommunications, public
\nhousing and the National Aviation and Aeronautical Institute;
\nCommission V for industry, mining, trade, manpower, cooperatives
\nand the environment; Commission VI for health, social affairs,
\nwomen's affairs and family planning; and the Inter-parliamentary
\nCooperation Agency.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces legislators will chair Commission II for
\ndomestic and foreign political affairs, State Secretariat, public
\nadministration and the Coordinating Agency for Pancasila Course;
\nand Commission VIII for state finance and budgeting, national
\ndevelopment planning, research and technology and other non-
\ngovernmental institutions. (imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-to-encourage-its-members-to-initiate-laws-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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