Abuse of morals chronic in House: Kharis Suhud

JAKARTA (JP): Violations of moral values are among major problems which have been facing the House of Representatives for a long time, former House speaker Kharis Suhud said yesterday.

Kharis said a number of House legislators were found guilty of ethical transgressions during his tenure between 1982 and 1987, but they escaped sanctions due to the absence of a code of ethics.

"The violations varied, including requests from House members to certain ministers to select them for official visits abroad," Kharis said after a religious celebration in the House.

Kharis was commenting on the present House leaders' initiative to establish a code of ethics in a bid to improve the image of the legislative body currently tarnished with alleged bribery taking place among 1992/1997 House legislators deliberating the manpower bill a few months ago.

House Speaker Harmoko said over the weekend that the code would serve as guidance for legislators' conduct. Leaders of the House have appointed Deputy House Speakers Abdul Gafur and Fatimah Achmad to discuss the plan with leaders of all the four factions in the legislative body.

Kharis said the plan was outdated, but was supportive of the initiative only because violations of morality remain a chronic problem in the House.

"I told the House members to endorse a code such as the one I learned of from the commission of ethics in the United States Congress, but received no support. Then I relied on personal charisma to reprimand guilty legislators," he recalled.

According to his plan, the House could form an honorary council made up of several legislators. This council would work behind closed doors and would unveil its findings only when it finished its job.

"The council would recommend police investigation if it found a crime, or internal settlement if the case dealt with moral violations," Kharis said.

Separately, Tosari Wijaya, a legislator representing the United Development Party (PPP), said a code of ethics was unnecessary if all House members were to abide by the oath they had taken in their inauguration.

"I'm afraid that such a code will be prone to personal biases, because commonly moral violations carry no sanctions," said Tosari, also secretary general of the Moslem-based party.

"Each faction in the House already applies control mechanisms and will seek an internal solution to any offenses committed by its members," he said. (amd)