Empowered House still lacks expertise in drafting laws

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives may have won many extra powers for itself over the last two years thanks to the reform movement, but it is still grossly lacking in expertise when it comes to one important aspect: Making laws.

All but one of the 18 bills passed into law by the legislature since October were drafted and initiated by the executive, which is well equipped and trained for the task.

This means that for all the talk of political reform and a better balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government, the administration is still calling all the shots when it comes to the nation's legislative agenda.

Speakers at a public hearing on Wednesday agreed that the House's legislative capability has been found wanting, and proposed some kind of mechanism whereby legislators would be supported by experts in formulating new bills.

The hearing at Hotel Indonesia was the third in a series organized by the National Commission on Law which is preparing a discussion paper on the reform of Indonesia's entire legal system.

Jimly Asshiddiqie, a constitutional law professor from the University of Indonesia, said the current situation was not all that different from the time of the "New Order" regime when all legislative enactments were initiated by the government of president Soeharto.

The House hardly ever used its right to initiate bills under the 1945 Constitution, Jimly said.

He expressed doubt as to whether the legislators would ever initiate bills as long as they lacked support and access to the necessary expertise.

This, he said, would go against the people's expectations that the House display greater initiative in fulfilling its role of checking and controlling the administration.

Jimly noted that the House did not appear to have any problem discharging its other role of supervising the government's work.

The legislature may even have more power than necessary, he said, recalling the House's use of its interpellation right to summon President Abdurrahman Wahid over the firing of two of his economics ministers in April.

The use of the interpellation right, he said, turned out to be more of a "show of force" by the House than a genuine attempt at making democracy work.

In spite of an apology by the President when answering the summons in July, the majority of the House was not content with his response and voted this week to pursue the matter.

Jimly said any further effort to empower the House should focus on strengthening its parliamentary drafting capabilities.

He proposed the establishment of a "standing committee" consisting of full-time or part-time experts in various fields who would assist legislators when drafting bills.

However, according to Sri Sumarjati Haryanto, the House's secretary-general, improving the House's performance in the exercise of its functions could only be accomplished if it was allocated the necessary budget to hire the requisite experts and advisors.

"House members must be mentored by experts because drafting bills is not an easy task," she said.

Bara Hasibuan, deputy secretary-general of the National Mandate Party (PAN) agreed with the notion that the empowerment of the House over the last two years was heading in the wrong direction.

"It has even encroached into the executive privilege such as appropriating to itself the right to approve the appointment of foreign ambassadors to Indonesia," he said, using the delay in the appointment of Australia's new ambassador to Indonesia as an example of the House's intrusion into the affairs of the executive.

The right to approve the appointment of foreign ambassadors, as well as the appointment of Indonesian ambassadors abroad, was enshrined in the first package of constitutional amendments passed in October. (01)