House fails to meet legislation target
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A lack of discipline coupled with political rivalry among legislators has led to a failure by the House of Representatives (DPR) to meet its target of completing the deliberation of 24 bills before a recess period begins on March 29.
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung pledged at the outset of the current session term on Jan. 7 that the legislators had the commitment to boost their legislative efficiency, along with budget drafting, and supervisory functions.
Akbar also vowed to finish deliberation of the 24 bills on various issues, including money laundering, electricity, and commissions for the corruption of eradication.
Until Wednesday, however, only two less important bills -- one on tax court, the other a treaty involving space exploration -- had been endorsed into laws.
Ma'ruf, a staff member of the House secretariat, confirmed that only three other bills could possibly be completed by March 28.
"The three bills deal with property rights, money laundering, and a national system of science and technology," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Ma'ruf added that an exact schedule for the deliberation would be decided on Thursday by the House steering committee.
The highly prioritized bills on money laundering and also on commission for the eradication of corruption, however, are still in the process of initial deliberation.
The two bills are said to affect the disbursement of US$3.14 billion and $600 million in loans from the Consultative Group on Indonesia and the Asian Development Bank, respectively.
Although the legislative body had on March 11 passed 10 bills on the establishment of 22 regencies throughout the country, they were not of the priority mentioned by Akbar.
This poor achievement revealed the legislators' apparent inability to distinguish between bills which were urgently needed, and others which could be delayed.
Legislator Paturungi Parawansa of Golkar admitted that low discipline among the legislators had contributed to the snail's pace deliberation of those bills.
Parawansa, a member of the 32-strong committee in charge of property rights deliberations, said that his committee often delayed its meetings only because very few members showed up.
"If the meeting fails to meet a quorum, it's impossible to reach any decisions," he added.
It has become common practice among legislators to sign the presence list in a House meeting, but then skip to attend a different meeting, or some other unrelated event.
Political rivalry among legislators, especially with regard to a proposal to set up a committee of inquiry into the Rp 40 billion scandal involving Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, worsened the already poor conditions.
Lengthy debates on whether or not to set up the inquiry committee have also consumed much time and energy, thereby distracting the legislators from focusing on their own duties.