Councillors absent at end of term

Councillors absent at end of term

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Members of the City Council, nominated by their parties, should
be responsible to the public who have elected them. However, many
have failed to perform properly during their tenure, particularly
now that it is drawing to a close.

Recently, councillors have been arriving late for hearings,
going home early or even skipping altogether meetings to discuss
public affairs.

On Thursday's hearing between officials and councillors on the
draft bylaw on population and civil registration, The Jakarta
Post observed that the session had to be delayed for about an
hour to achieve a quorum.

The hearing was scheduled for 10 a.m. but 47 of 85 councillors
took an hour to turn up. A plenary session at the City Council
requires the presence of at least two-thirds of total councillors
for legitimacy.

"Many councillors fail to show up on time; this has been
happening repeatedly," said City Council deputy chairman Ibnu
Sumantri, who presided over the session.

Before the meeting ended, many councillors had already left
the room for lunch or to perform midday prayers but they did not
return until it had finished.

"I called on councillors outside the room to return because
the hearing would otherwise be inquorate," Ibnu said.

The hearing ended with only 20 councillors remaining inside.

Several councillors left the hearing to attend a media
conference on crooked politicians at Hotel Sofyan, Central
Jakarta.

Ibnu said that all factions had been told to remind their
members to arrive on time for every meeting, but so far it had
been to no avail.

"It's a shame there's no way to impose sanctions on them. I
think they should already be mature enough to have the self-
discipline to arrive for meetings on time or an awareness of how
to manage their time," he moaned.

Some councillors also left a meeting between council
Commission D on development affairs and the city transportation
agency on Wednesday before it was concluded.

The councillors are expected to complete their terms, at the
soonest, in early July, three months after the legislative
elections on April 5. Each will receive Rp 25 million (US$2,976)
in severance payment. Some have asked the city administration to
reregister their official cars in their own names.

Local non-governmental organization Indonesian Forum for
Budget Transparency (FITRA) has criticized councillors for their
failure to fight for people's interests, despite the abundant
facilities and allowances they receive from the city budget.

"They perform poorly ... Their performance is nothing when
compared with the facilities and allowances they have received
using public money," said FITRA chairman Laode Ida.

FITRA reported that during the five-year term from 2000 to
2004, the city budget allocated a total Rp 144.252 billion for
councillor salaries and allowances, or Rp 1.7 billion per
councillor.

As of today, the City Council had enacted 42 city bylaws.