Antimonopoly bill fails 'to ensure fair competition'

JAKARTA (JP): The draft law on monopoly practices does not go far enough in ensuring healthy and fair business competition, a non-governmental organization (NGO) says.

Zaim Saidi of the Public Interest Research and Advocacy Center (Pirac) said on Thursday the bill lacked strong protection for consumers and small businesses against unfair business competition. It is currently under review by the House of Representatives.

"Substantively, the bill is still lame," Zaim told The Jakarta Post.

He said the bill -- called the Prohibition of Monopoly Practices -- tended to side more with business players than the public.

"Several basic principles to protect the interests of the public are not reflected in the bill," he said, adding that the bill's main aim did not seem to be adherence to the principle of fair economics.

Legally, the public had very little recourse to ensure violators of the law would face just sanctions, he said.

The bill did not mention whether the public could file individual or class action suits.

The antimonopoly bill, which is currently being reviewed by the House's special team, was drafted by a group of 34 legislators using their initiative rights to propose a bill. It is the first House-initiated bill since 1971.

Consisting of 11 chapters and 53 articles, it was formally submitted to the House's plenary session last week. The government supported the bill on Wednesday and will begin deliberating it with the House's special team next Monday.

Zaim said the bill was soft on violators. "Those who are suspected of violating the law would not be required to prove their innocence in a court of law in order to be acquitted of the charges."

The House also remained exclusive in the lawmaking process by not letting other parties participate in both the drafting and deliberation process.

"It is important for the public to participate in the drafting of the law. They should include organizations and public groups in the lawmaking process."

He said Pirac and two other groups, the Association for the Development of Small Enterprises (Pupuk) and the Foundations for Strengthening the People's Participation, Initiatives and Partnerships (Yappika), had previously tried to meet with the House's special committee on the bill.

The groups were scheduled to meet on Oct. 15, but the meeting was canceled because the team members were busy."

"They rescheduled it on Oct. 22, but by that time, they will have had already begun deliberating the bill with the government." He said he was extremely disappointed by the change in plans.

Earlier, the three NGOs had also proposed a similar bill dubbed the Antimonopoly/Business Competition bill. But the House has not given any response.

Zaim said that the three organizations wanted the House to use their draft to enrich and complement the bill now being deliberated.

He said the NGOs' bill not only prohibits shady and unfair business competition, but also restructures the market system, which has been deemed slanted.

It rules that everyone subjected to the bill must prove that their business were not monopolistic or distorted.

Several companies built their business empires due to special privileges and monopolies provided during Soeharto's 32-year regime. (das)