DPR criticized for bad performance

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A legislative watchdog has criticized the members of the House of Representatives (DPR) for their poor performance in relation to legislative, budgetary and supervisory functions.

The Indonesian Parliament Watchdog Society (Formappi) said in a press conference here on Monday that during the first year of its five-year term, the House endorsed just 10 pieces of legislation, while its budgetary and supervisory functions failed to live up to the expectations of the people.

"The House's legislative function clearly does not work, with only 10 of 55 targeted bills having been endorsed," said Formappi director Tommi Legowo.

Tommi said the House also failed to exercise its budgetary function by failing to vigorously debate state budget issues with the government.

The 2005 state budget has been revised three times amid the surge in international oil prices, and the House, dominated by factions that support the administration, has done little to force the government to find other ways to ease the pressure on the state budget other than by raising fuel prices, he said.

Tommi said the House's failure to exercise its supervisory function was evident in the absence of concrete steps by the body after a series of hearings between House commissions and their related partners in the executive body.

Following the inauguration of legislators, House factions were involved in a conflict over the elections of House leaders and commissions chairpeople.

"The emergence of brokers in the allocation of money for the regions, the mark up of expenses for lawmakers' official trips and corruption allegations have tarnished the House's image. And since the current lawmakers were inaugurated, the House has failed to deliver any good news to the people," Tommi said.

Another legislative watchdog, Teliti, previously criticized the work of the House despite the presence of younger and better educated members.

It said legislators continued to focus on the interests of their respective political parties rather than those of the people. It also said many lawmakers were distracted from their work in the House because they moonlighted.

The group said people were disappointed with the actions and work of lawmakers, including the division of members into the so- called Nationhood Coalition and the People's Coalition, the hike in legislators' monthly salaries and the House's decision to approve last week's hike in fuel prices.

More than 70 percent of the 550 legislators, who assumed office in September of 2004, are new to the body and almost 50 percent of them are between the ages of 25 and 49. However, this infusion of new blood has not repaired the legislative body's badly tarnished image.

People had high expectations for the new legislators because besides being new and younger, 49 percent of the legislators are university graduates and 33 percent have master's or PhDs.