First money, now House blames public for failures

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives (DPR) ended its session on Friday with House Speaker Akbar Tandjung blaming the public for its legislative shortcomings.

The house managed to approve only three out of 22 bills targeted to be completed during the sitting that started on May 13, Akbar acknowledged.

"The target couldn't be fulfilled as the deliberation process takes time for intense discussion and the accommodation of input from the public," said Akbar in closing the session.

His statement was markedly different from the earlier excuse given during a consultation meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the House leaders had asked for more money so as to ensure the speedier passage of bills.

President Megawati, who revealed the request during a press conference, did not specifically mention the amount of money sought or whether she had approved the request.

The poor performance of the legislators in carrying out their legislative functions has become the target of much public criticism. The inability of the House to fulfill its legislative program is widely see as the result of its penchant for political bickering.

In the previous session, which lasted from January 7 to March 28, the House only managed the passage of 4 bills.

But this session was even worse as the legislators only passed three bills into law. They were the bills on calculation of the 2000 state budget, the national scientific and technological system, and copyright.

Under the 16-month presidency of B.J. Habibie, the government and the legislators managed to enact 68 laws.

Akbar, a defendant in a Rp 40 billion (US$4.4 million) financial scandal in the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), pointed out that currently the House was preparing to deliberate 47 bills during the next sitting, which runs from Aug. 16 through Sept. 27.

Of these bills, 29 were drafted by the legislators themselves.

According to Akbar, the House would focus on the deliberation of the bills on political parties and elections as these two bills were urgently needed in the run-up to the 2004 general election.

In addition, he said, bills on the presidency, electricity, the central bank and state loans would also be prioritized.

In other parts of his speech, Akbar revealed that he had received a letter from President Megawati asking legislators to delay the deliberation of the presidency bill until the amendment to the 1945 Constitution had been completed.

This is the second such request from Megawati following a similar request last January.

Megawati argued in the letter that if the House went ahead with the deliberation of the presidency bill, it could find itself in conflict with the amended Constitution.

The presidency bill consists of nine chapters and 49 articles that regulates everything related to the powers and the institution of the presidency.

The bill also places restrictions on the gifts that the president may accept from counterparts. The bill sets the maximum value at Rp 25 million.

It further sets out the requirements that the president must comply with in appointing cabinet ministers, the military commander and the police chief.