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.