Extra income unlikely to improve House performance

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The controversial decision to provide a new additional monthly allowance for members of the House of Representatives would not guarantee any improvement in the performance of the lawmakers, critics have said.

Noviantika Nasution, an outgoing legislator of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), blamed the lingering political friction among the country's political elite and party leaders on the poor performance of the lawmakers over the past year.

"The House could not work well in accordance with its official functions because all things have been highly politicized and this was marked by the emergence of the koalisi kebangsaan (nationhood coalition) and koalisi kerakyatan (people's coalition). Despite their subsequent dissolution, the friction among their supporters and former leaders lingers. This has caused the House to be unable to effectively perform its function of controlling the government," she said.

Noviantika, who quit the House over internal friction in her party, said that over the past year, legislators were more concerned about representing the interests of their party than the interest of the people.

"To be open about it, the monthly income hike is really a compensation for the House's approval of the government's recent decision to boost fuel prices," she said.

The House has approved a plan to provide a new Rp 10 million (US$1,000) monthly allowance starting November, a decision which has drawn strong criticism amid the current economic hardship endured by the people following the recent fuel hike.

Noviantika doubted that the extra income would boost the performance of the lawmakers, who were only been able to endorse four bills during their first year in office out of a target of 55 bills.

Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a legislator of the National Awakening Party (PKB), said the lack of qualified human resources had hampered the House in reaching its legislation target.

"Most legislators are not familiar with the legislation procedure and we are running short of law drafters, law experts and researchers. The House has only 17 experts and less than 10 researchers," she said, adding that an American legislator would have five legal drafters and expert advisors and several researchers.

Experts have previously said that the domineering role of party leaders in recruiting candidates for House positions had been a factor for the poor performance of the current lawmakers.

Meanwhile, Muhammad A.S. Hikam, chairman of the House's legislative body, blamed the government for the House's low productivity in the legislative field, saying many special committees had been left inactive because the government was not cooperative in the legislation process.

"Many bills have been left undeliberated since they are still waiting for presidential decrees for their deliberation. Minister of Justice and Human Rights Affairs Hamid Awaluddin should be replaced because he has paid more attention to handling the Aceh issue and the graft case in the General Elections Commission (KPU), instead of coordinating with relevant government departments in the legislation process," he said.

Hikam acknowledged that the legislation process has been highly politicized because many factions have been buying time in deliberating bills which could affect their political interests.

"The deliberation of the long-awaited bills on the criminal code and the free flow of information has been suspended because certain factions do not accept the substance of the bills," he said.

He was also of the same opinion that the monthly income hike would not guarantee an improvement in the output of House' legislators in the future.