House establishes committee to deliberate antimonopoly bill

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) has set up a special committee to speed up deliberations of a House-initiated antimonopoly bill.

House Deputy Speaker Ismail Hasan Metareum said on Thursday the special committee represented all four of the House's factions and consisted of 45 permanent members, backed up by 20 designated substitutes.

Nine of the permanent members are from the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP) faction, 27 from the dominant Golkar faction, seven from the Armed Forces (ABRI) faction and two from the tiny Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction.

Of the 20 substitute members, four are from the PPP, 12 from Golkar, three from ABRI and one from PDI.

"The committee will begin work today and we expect the bill to be ratified by the end of the year," Ismail, who is also the chairman of the PPP's House faction, told a plenary session during which the legislature formally agreed to deliberate the bill.

He said the committee would conduct a hearing on the bill with government officials on Oct. 14.

The antimonopoly bill was drafted by a group of 34 legislators representing all four factions in an unprecedented move to exercise the House's "initiative right" to propose laws.

The Prohibition of Monopoly Practices Bill consists of 11 articles and 53 subsections.

It regulates and prohibits all kinds of business practices or agreements which could distort market competition and calls for the establishment of a Commission for Business Competition to monitor the law's implementation. The legislation also stipulates both criminal and administrative punishments for violators.

All four factions expressed support for the bill, which they said was badly needed to regulate the country's economy.

The legislators argued that the domination of the economy by a handful of businesses had exacerbated the country's economic difficulties.

"Eighty percent of the ownership of the country's economic activities outside the state-owned enterprises is controlled by 50 tycoons out of 200 million Indonesians," PDI spokesman Anthonius Rahail told the plenary session.

This led to market distortions and monopolistic and oligopolistic business practices, he said.

ABRI faction spokesman Uddy Rusdilie expressed his support for the House's initiative to draft the bill, saying it "shows a determination to improve the House's weak image".

The House, according to the Constitution, has the power to propose laws but has not used the privilege, known as its "initiative rights", since 1971.

The government is also currently drafting a similar bill to be submitted to the House in the near future. (das)