Courses for would-be legislators defended

Courses for would-be legislators defended

JAKARTA (JP): The government defended its plan yesterday to
provide courses on state affairs and the state ideology Pancasila
to new members of the House of Representatives.

The Agency for Pancasila Propagation's chief Alwi Dahlan said
it was wrong to think the courses were created because the
government considered that future House members would be
"unqualified".

"The course aims to help future legislators better understand
their jobs," he told a hearing of House Commission II for home
affairs.

Alwi said the "public" and the parties had proposed the
courses during the May election campaign.

The courses will consist mostly of discussions among House
members on ways to improve the House of Representatives'
performance.

Instructors would give future House members ideas on ways to
improve their performance but not teach them how to do their
jobs, Alwi said.

The 500-strong House has been sneered at as a rubber stamp
institution for its perceived submissive attitudes toward the
will of the bureaucracy.

The House will again be dominated by the government-backed
Golkar party with 325 seats for the next term from Oct. 1997 to
2002. The United Development Party won 89 seats and the
Indonesian Democratic Party 11 in the May 29 election.

The Agency for Pancasila Propagation will handle the technical
details of the courses to be coordinated by State Minister of
Special Assignments Harmoko.

Opinions were still mixed yesterday over the controversial
scheme.

Golkar legislator A.A. Oka Mahendra said he thought the
courses were unnecessary.

"If the House performs as poorly as it is perceived now, would
the agency be ready to share the consequences?" he asked the
hearing led by Golkar legislator Adolph Jouke Sondakh.

Golkar member H. Hasanudin said he accepted and understood the
government's decision to create the courses. Armed Forces
legislator Hadi Sutrisno also accepted the government's decision.

Alwi, a mass communication expert, denied the allegation that
the government intended to make future House members more
submissive.

He said President Soeharto had appointed the agency to help
handle the courses because it was considered the most appropriate
body to do so.

A major goal of the courses would be to provide future House
members with the basic knowledge that they would need to
anticipate rapid changes in global politics, he said.

The agency is working out the content and method of the
courses. (01)