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.