House begins final session
House begins final session
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday opened its last
session with House Speaker Akbar Tandjung pledging to prioritize
the deliberation of seven bills, including bills on the Cabinet
and on a Presidential Advisory Board.
However, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has not assigned
ministers to represent the government in the deliberation of
the two bills, raising doubts that the drafts will be endorsed
on time.
"We hope the last session will run smoothly," Akbar said
during a plenary meeting attended by Megawati and Vice President
Hamzah Haz.
Other bills on the priority list are those that deal with the
protection of Indonesian migrant workers, the social insurance
system, revision of Law No. 36/2000 on the Batam free trade zone,
revision of Law No. 22/1999 on regional administrations, and
revision of Law No. 24/1999 on fiscal apportionments between the
central government and regional administrations.
In the final session, which runs from Aug. 16 to Sept. 30,
House members are scheduled to work for 31 days. In past
sessions, the current House has repeatedly failed to meet its
legislation targets.
Regarding the deliberation of the controversial Indonesian
Military (TNI) bill, Akbar said the substance of the government-
sponsored bill needed further assessment before deliberation
could continue.
"This bill is very crucial, therefore more input from society
and the institutions must be taken into consideration," he added.
Military experts and prodemocracy activists have strongly
opposed the bill, which they say essentially revives the
military's controversial dual function role and allows active
military officers to take up civilian posts.
During the 32 years of former president Soeharto's leadership,
the so-called dual function, which entailed troop deployment down
to the regency level in otherwise civilian posts, was exploited
to control the movement and political life of people across the
country.
The dual function policy, however, was scrapped following
Soeharto's downfall in May 1998. Military officers holding
civilian posts were also asked to return to their barracks or
resign from the military service. Many opted for the latter.
Ibrahim Ambong, chairman of the House's commission on defense,
said that his team would continue the deliberation of the bill
despite the controversies.
Ideally, each faction takes into account input from meetings
with government officials. There is one such meeting scheduled
for Aug. 24.
Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa, deputy chairman of the committee that
will look into the revisions of the Regional Administration Law,
said separately that his team had been working hard to finish the
revision.
The main item in that revision proposal is the adoption of
direct elections for governors, mayors and regents.
Meanwhile, lawmakers also continued deliberations for the bill
on a truth and reconciliation commission, although it was not put
on the priority list.
In addition, Akbar said the House was concerned over the
social conflict resulting from partition of the Mamasa regency in
South Sulawesi.
"We deeply regret the incidents. The partition of a regency is
designed to improve the people's welfare. This incident must be
taken as a lesson for any partition of regencies or provinces in
the future," he said.