Education bill's passage delayed

Education bill's passage delayed

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives failed on Tuesday to pass the
controversial education bill after a lengthy and enervating
plenary session that was marked by a boycott by all of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction
members.

House deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar said in his remarks
concluding the day's session at around 10 p.m. that the plenary
meeting was adjourned until Wednesday at 7.30 p.m., when the
House would listen to the views of the PDI Perjuangan and the
Indonesian Nationhood (KKI) factions, two factions that had
demanded a delay until June 17.

Both PDI Perjuangan and KKI factions have 165 seats between
them in the 500-member House.

"The session will resume tomorrow evening to hear the final
words of both the PDI Perjuangan and the KKI factions, but we
won't need a quorum or approval from the House steering committee
regarding the new schedule," said Muhaimin, who presided over the
plenary meeting.

The session opened at around 9 a.m., but was declared
incapable of making any decisions as it had failed to meet the
quorum, mostly because the 153 PDI Perjuangan faction members
either refused to sign the attendance list or failed to turn up
for the meeting.

For the duration of most of the proceedings, all the PDI
Perjuangan legislators were gathered in a room away from the
where the plenary session was taking place.

Despite their approval of the delay, seven factions in favor
of the education bill insisted that whatever the PDI Perjuangan
and KKI factions said on Wednesday, they would not be able to
cancel out the majority's decision to pass the bill.

The government, represented by Minister of National Education
Malik Fadjar and Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf
Kalla, will also be given a chance to present its overview on
Wednesday.

The Golkar Party, Reform Party, National Awakening Party,
United Development Party, Crescent Star Party, Ummat Sovereignty
Party and the Military/Police faction all expressed in their
respective remarks their approval for the bill, which has seen
minor changes following lobbying by Muhaimin to bridge the
difference in opinion between the two camps earlier in the day.

After four hours of lobbying involving all House leaders,
faction leaders and the government's representatives, the House
agreed to merge the articles on the goals and functions of
national education into one article.

The lobbyists also signed an agreement to delay the
endorsement of the bill until June 17.

The long-standing controversy over the bill centers on the
government's intervention in educational affairs and the
requirement for schools to provide religious instruction for
students according to their respective faiths.

The bill has divided the country by religion, with most of the
Muslim community supporting the bill, and minority Christians
rejecting it.

Some Christian schools have threatened to ignore the bill
should it be endorsed.

The PDI Perjuangan, the largest faction in the House,
initiated a last minute move to slow down the bill's passage,
with chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri demanding a delay in the
bill's endorsement pending the further dissemination of
information to the public, or the bill's revision should this
prove necessary.

"The chairwoman wants the bill to be accepted by everybody
based upon a consensus," PDI Perjuangan legislator Noviantika
Nasution said on Tuesday.

A source said Megawati, in her capacity as the President, had
summoned Jusuf Kalla, Malik Fadjar and the chairman of the PDI
Perjuangan faction, Roy B.B. Janis, on Monday night to convey her
request.

The PDI Perjuangan deputy secretary Pramono Anung said the
party viewed the bill as having the potential to spark unrest.
Therefore, it needed to be better explained first to the public.

He warned that the bill was not only raising concerns in Java,
but in other regions such as Papua, Maluku, and North Sumatra
where people felt that it could threaten national unity.

The session resumed after the lobbying effort ended at about
7.30 p.m., with all factions present being given time to make
concluding statements.

Hearing that the majority insisted on the endorsement of the
bill, Muhaimin reminded the legislators of the agreement signed
earlier. But this sparked interjections from the floor.

"Our failure to endorse the bill today will give rise to
increasing disappointment among the public," Agun Gunanjar of
Golkar said. "There is no reason to delay the endorsement as none
of the factions object to the bill. The absence of the PDI
Perjuangan legislators is nothing short of contempt of the
House."

Tens of thousands of Muslim demonstrators held a rally in
front of the House building to apply pressure on legislators, and
eight Muslim leaders met with the Golkar Party faction to demand
the immediate passage of the bill.