PDI wants fewer House commissions<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), which won
\nonly 11 of the 425 House of Representatives seats contested in
\nthe May election, is seeking to reduce the number of House
\ncommissions to suit its tiny minority.<\/p>\n
PDI legislator Markus Wauran said yesterday that he believed
\nthe number of commissions should be cut from 11 to five so the
\nHouse would become more efficient.<\/p>\n
A special committee of representatives of the House's four
\nfactions has been meeting since July 9 to review the 1983 House
\nInternal Rules and is expected to release its recommendations by
\nJuly 22.<\/p>\n
"We will definitely ask for a cut in the number of House
\ncommissions," Markus said.<\/p>\n
The PDI's poor election performance was a far cry from the 56
\nseats it won in the 1992 election.<\/p>\n
PDI chairman Soerjadi, who toppled popular PDI chief Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri, lost his seat in the 500-seat House, and will have
\nto give it up when its new members are inducted on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n
The government-backed Golkar party won 325 seats, and the
\nUnited Development Party (PPP) won 89 seats in the election.
\nRepresentatives of the Armed Forces, whose members do not vote,
\nwill occupy the House's remaining 75 seats.<\/p>\n
House decisions are only valid if all four factions are
\nrepresented. This means the PDI must field at least one
\nlegislator at every decision-making session. This burden is
\nincreased by the obligation that each faction is expected to
\nfield a deputy House Speaker.<\/p>\n
According to Article 57 of the House's internal rules, the
\nHouse speaker and his deputies cannot be commission members.
\nTherefore, unless the number of commissions is cut, one PDI
\nmember will have to sit on two commissions.<\/p>\n
House commission I, for instance, deals with foreign affairs,
\npolitics and information; commission II is on home affairs;
\ncommission III is on legal affairs; and commission IX is on
\nscience and education.<\/p>\n
Hard<\/p>\n
Markus told The Jakarta Post that it would be very hard for a
\nlegislator to attend every session of a commission.<\/p>\n
But Markus said the PDI had not decided on how many
\ncommissions to propose.<\/p>\n
"There should be at least two legislators in one commission.
\nSo the ideal number of commissions, for PDI, should be five," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
But Golkar legislator Syamsul Mu'arif brushed off the idea.<\/p>\n
"One commission would then be too big because it would have to
\naccommodate 100 House members," he said. "Even the rooms
\navailable are not big enough for that."<\/p>\n
Syamsul suggested seven or eight commissions. "There should be
\none PDI legislator for each commission, one as deputy speaker,
\none as the faction's leader, one in the committee for inter-
\nparliamentary cooperation and one in the household committee," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
A smaller working group would be set up to work on a detailed
\ndraft of recommendations. A plenary session has to approve any
\nchanges to the internal rules, which have 176 articles, before
\nthey can be introduced.<\/p>\n
Golkar proposed yesterday that commission chairpersons should
\nonly be appointed if they were nominated by three other
\ncommission members.<\/p>\n
PDI disagreed. Markus said this would only help Golkar
\ndominate the commissions' leadership at the expense of the PDI
\nwhich would not be able to field three representatives in any
\nparticular commission.<\/p>\n
The newly elected legislators will begin their duty on Oct. 1.
\n(35\/amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pdi-wants-fewer-house-commissions-1447893297",
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