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)