Govt wants to cut number of Assembly leaders
Govt wants to cut number of Assembly leaders
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has proposed to reduce the number of People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) leaders from the current nine to
three in a bid to cut state expenses.
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said on Wednesday that
the three MPR leaders would consist of one speaker and two
deputies.
Under the proposal, the three leaders would be elected at a
plenary meeting of the Assembly with two deputies representing
the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional
Representatives Council (DPD).
"Those leaders are not allowed to hold similar posts at the
DPR or DPD," Hari said at a hearing with the House's special
committee deliberating a bill on the composition of the MPR, DPR,
DPD and regional legislatures.
The nine Assembly leaders consist of one speaker and eight
deputies, with each of them enjoying the same benefits as state
officials.
Each leader receives a Volvo sedan, with their fuel, telephone
and electricity expenses all paid for.
Hari emphasized that under the new law there would be two
deputies to deal with people's aspirations on a whole and the
aspirations of people in the regions.
The eight deputy Assembly speakers have no clear job
description. Some of them only accompany Assembly Speaker Amien
Rais when he receives state guests or talk to protesters.
Hari also said on Wednesday that the government planned to
reduce the number of House leaders from five to four.
Of the four House leaders, one will act as House speaker while
the other three will serve as deputy House speakers.
Each one will oversee three functions: legislation,
supervision and the state budget.
The minister also proposed that House leaders convicted of
crimes carrying a jail term of five years or longer should be
suspended.
Current House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who is also the Golkar
chairman, was sentenced to three years in jail for his role in a
Rp 40 billion financial scandal that carries a maximum jail term
of 20 years. However, he remains free pending his appeal to the
Supreme Court.
The proposal also said that the DPD would have three leaders
-- one speaker and two deputy speakers -- in charge of
deliberating legislations on regional autonomy laws and
supervising the implementation of those laws.
Yahya Zaini, the chairman of the special committee
deliberating the bill, said on Wednesday that he expected the
much-awaited bill to be endorsed by June 24.
Yahya said that the special committee would discuss 554 items
in the bill.
He said he hoped deliberations would proceed quickly, noting
that the issues in the bill were less contentious than those in
the presidential election bill.