Strict penalties needed to boost House performance<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives must introduce stern penalties to
\nits internal regulations to deter legislators from skipping
\nmeetings and deliberations of bills, governance activists said on
\nTuesday, as the current House session comes to a close this
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
Legislators have come under fire for their poor attendance at
\nHouse meetings and deliberations, which has seriously affected
\ntheir performance: 40 bills are still pending, three months ahead
\nof the end of their terms in September.<\/p>\n
\"With their poor attendance record, legislators have been
\naccused of betraying the aspiration of the people,\" Tomi A.
\nLegowo, chairman of the Legislature Watchdog (Formappi), told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Separately, Bambang Widjojanto of the Partnership for
\nGovernance Reform said legislators had not been accountable to
\nthe public.<\/p>\n
\"It is ironic. The institution tasked with supervising the
\ngovernment has failed to perform,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A planned plenary meeting on Monday was canceled due to
\nsubstandard attendance, and last Thursday, the House's
\ndeliberation body failed for the 16th time to meet during the
\ncurrent April-June session.<\/p>\n
Tomi said the poor attendance was due to the absence of stern
\npunishment for errant legislators.<\/p>\n
House internal regulations declare that legislators who skip
\nmeetings three consecutive times would be considered to have
\nviolated its code of conduct.<\/p>\n
However, no clear punishment is delineated for the violation.<\/p>\n
Tomi said the House should introduce salary cuts and
\ndismissals in its internal regulations as punishments for poor
\nperformance.<\/p>\n
Deputy House speaker Tosari Widjaja has thrown his support
\nbehind moves to introduce stern measures against legislators who
\ndid not fulfill their duties accordingly, and called on political
\nparties to replace those legislators who failed to perform.<\/p>\n
The new law on composition of legislative bodies has restored
\nthe power of recall, which authorizes parties to replace their
\nlegislators.<\/p>\n
House Legislation Body member Baharuddin Aritonang
\nacknowledged that it would be impossible for lawmakers to finish
\ndeliberating the 40 pending bills within the remainder of the
\nsession.<\/p>\n
\"I think the lawmakers will focus on discussing those bills
\nthat are highly needed for the next government,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Among these are the Cabinet bill, the presidential advisory
\nboard bill and the bill on loan guarantee institutions.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Bambang said he hoped the new House members elected
\non April 5 would help improve the legislature's performance.<\/p>\n
According to him, new legislators will comprise about 70
\npercent of the 550-strong House membership.<\/p>\n
He said he had talked with the new legislators, proposing that
\na special caucus be formed to boost performance.<\/p>\n
\"There must be a group of legislators who will voluntarily set
\nup a group to bring about changes. Change can't be carried out by
\none legislator alone,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/strict-penalties-needed-to-boost-house-performance-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}