A House of shame

Once again, the House of Representatives went into recess on Friday with little to show for its 10-week sitting period. But this time, instead of the apology it owed the nation for letting us down, the House ended the session by shamelessly demanding more money from the government in return for its "hard work".

In the just-ended session, the House completed deliberations on only three bills: one on improved copyright protection, one on national science and technology, and another on the 2000 budget calculations. When it began its session on May 13, 22 bills were in the pipeline, most of which had been carried over from the previous session, in which it endorsed only four bills.

This is now becoming an all too familiar pattern: the House fails to keep up with its legislative schedule, the bills are left pending until the next session and in the meantime new bills arrive, all demanding the urgent attention of legislators.

The House is falling short in terms of quality as well. This was exemplified by three bills whose endorsement was postponed at the last minute because of protests from the public: the bills on power, child protection and the establishment of the Riau Archipelago Province.

Typically, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung blamed the public for stalling their passage, but the fact that these objections came at the eleventh hour showed the lack of transparency and the failure of the House to fully consult with the public.

Many, if not most of the bills endorsed by the House have never been put to thorough public debate resulting in laws that are inapplicable. We know this from the number of laws that have been sent back to the House for revision even though they were only enacted in the past year or two.

Anyone still wondering why the national reform agenda has stalled for much of the past year need only look at the performance (or nonperformance) of the House. The reform agenda, to a great extent, depends on the ability of the House to churn out as much legislation as quickly as possible, to put Indonesia on a strong footing in terms of the rule of law.

Most existing laws were designed for the purpose of shoring up the regime of former president Soeharto. Others are simply outdated, with some, like the Criminal Code, dating as far back as the Dutch colonial period. These laws do not support the process of nation-building, which requires democracy and rule of law.

The legislative task for Indonesia is therefore daunting.

When the present (not-so-) honorable House members were elected to office in 1999, it was with the understanding that they would be advancing the reform agenda through their legislative work. Now three years into their term, they have disappointed the nation by failing to deliver what they were elected to do. They have betrayed the trust that the people placed in them in 1999.

This poor performance on the part of our elected politicians is unacceptable. By delaying the deliberation of so many bills that are urgently needed to move forward the reform agenda, they are holding the nation hostage.

It is not like the legislators have not been busy these last 10 weeks. But their priorities seem to lie elsewhere, nowhere near their legislative tasks. Some bills that were endorsed were done so at a plenary session that did not even meet the quorum because members were preoccupied with other matters.

Going by statements from legislators, the 2004 elections appear prominently on their radar screens.

Many are content with exercising power to the point of abusing their privileges. Witness the way they conducted fit-and-proper tests for new ambassadors and members of the National Commission on Human Rights. Instead of using clear-cut criteria, they turned these fit-and-proper tests into a political game.

And the House members have become adept at cutting sweet deals for themselves to the point of conspiring against the nation. Witness the way they voted down the resolution to launch an investigation of Speaker Akbar for his alleged role in the Bulog scandal, even when public opinion clearly demanded it.

The Buloggate II episode reaffirmed our suspicion that public opinion rarely influences the conduct of House members.

But if that was not disgraceful enough, the House saved the biggest bombshell for the last minute. Last week, during a consultation meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the House leadership demanded more money in order to accelerate the deliberation of all the bills that are piling up.

Already occupying some of the highest paying jobs in the public service, and in spite of receiving money for every time they attend a session and participate in the deliberation of a bill, and in spite of falling behind in their work and in spite of their incompetence, legislators had the audacity to ask for more money, even at a time when the nation has barely emerged from economic crisis.

Now if that is not extortion or blackmail, the sort of things preman (hoodlums) engage in, then we don't know what is.