Empowered House still lacks expertise in drafting laws

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)