Absenteeism rife among legislators
Absenteeism rife among legislators
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and President
Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband Taufik Kiemas top the list of
lawmakers who rarely or never attended House of Representatives'
meetings over the past year, a parliamentary forum revealed.
The Mass Communications Forum (FKM), an organization grouping
journalists covering the House, predicted that the poor
attendance record of legislators would worsen in the coming
months as politicians would be busy with their preparations for
the April election.
The forum compiled its report from the attendance lists for
every House session recorded by the House secretariat.
Other lawmakers who rarely turned up for House sessions were
Soetjipto and Husni Thamrin, both of whom are also Assembly
speakers.
Amien, who also chairs the National Awakening Party (PAN), and
Taufik, an influential member of the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), are registered as members of House
Commission I for security and political affairs. Soetjipto, who
is also the PDI Perjuangan's secretary-general, is a member of
Commission VI for social affairs, while Thamrin of the United
Development Party is listed as a member of the Commission VIII
for energy and mineral resources.
All 500 House members are automatically granted seats in the
Assembly.
The forum's report also revealed that many House legislators
attended not more than 30 percent of meetings.
They included PDI Perjuangan legislators Roy BB Janis, Jacob
Tobing, Abdul Madjid, and Guruh Soekarnoputra, as well as now
inactive members Indira Damayanti Sugondo and Meilono Suwondo,
who never attended meetings between August and September.
Much. Dawam Anwar and Fuad Amin Imron of the National
Awakening Party (PKB) faction, Much. Nawir of the PPP,
Probosutedjo of the Indonesian National Unity (KKI) faction and
Muchtar Adam of the Reform faction were absent from all meetings
between October and November, while Effendy Yusuf of Golkar and
Izzul Islam of the PPP failed to put in an appearance between May
and July.
"Although they cannot be labeled unscrupulous or rotten
politicians, these House members have betrayed the mandate of
people," said FKM spokesman Monang Sinaga.
The report comes hard on the heels of the launch of a campaign
against "rotten politicians" by a group of non-governmental
organizations. Rotten politicians are categorized as those who
have been involved in or been associated with at least one of
five types of abuse: corruption, sexual abuse, environmental
destruction, drug abuse or human rights abuses.
Although poor House attendance is not included in the criteria
for identifying unscrupulous politicians, Monang said such
absenteeism should be taken into account by voters in the April 5
election.
FKM coordinator Sulistyo said that although the duties of the
Assembly leaders were time-consuming, there were no excuses for
always skipping House meetings.
"It would be better all round if the Assembly leaders
performed their duty and attended House meetings," he said.
Asked if the FKM had hired lawyers in anticipation of legal
action by the legislators who had been named and shamed, Sulistyo
said the report was not aimed at discrediting politicians but
rather to benefit the public who had voted for the lawmakers'
parties during the 1999 election.
Gaudensius Suhardi, another FKM leader, said he had no worries
about possible lawsuits as the data was valid and accurate.
Sulistyo said the report was dedicated to RCTI senior reporter
Sory Ersa Siregar and cameraman Fery Santoro, whom he said
represented press freedom. Ersa was killed in what the military
claims was a gunfight while Fery is still being held by Aceh
separatist rebels.
Attendance record from May to July 2003
===============================================================
No. Legislator Faction Number of
Meetings Ill Permit Leave
---------------------------------------------------------------
1. Taufik Kiemas PDI-P 21 - - 21
2. Amien Rais Reform 21 - - 21
3. Tarigan Sibero PDI-P 26 26 - -
4. Much. Nawir PPP 26 26 - -
5. Mochtar Buchori PDI-P 21 21 - -
6. Sutjipto PDI-P 21 - 21 -
7. Effendy Yusuf Golkar 21 - 21 -
8. Arifin Panigoro PDI-P 30 - - 30
9. Daniel Yoku PDI-P 30 30 - -
10. Husni Thamrin PPP 38 - 38 -
11. Izzul Islam PPP 38 - - 38
12. Indira Damayanti PDI-P 29 - - 29
13. Meilono Suwondo PDI-p 29 - - 29
---------------------------------------------------------------
Source: FKM