Extra income unlikely to improve House performance
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.