House falls behind schedule in bill deliberations

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The people are not likely to benefit from some of the important new laws as only a few of the bills being deliberated upon by the House of Representatives will be passed.

Legislators said on Monday that political rivalries were among the obstacles to the passage of the 24 bills slated to be deliberated upon in the current fourth session of the House.

Legislator Firman Jaya Daeli of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said it would be impossible for legislators to complete their deliberations on the bills by the end of the session on July 19.

Discussions for the bills on the presidency, electricity, national education, the commission for eradication of corruption, state finance and state treasury began on May 13.

Firman cited a host of reasons for the low output including absenteeism, time constraints in making alterations to the bills and disagreements amongst legislators as well as between the government and legislators.

"Sometimes we are ready, the material is ready but the government is not ready." Firman told The Jakarta Post, and added that, "the committee meetings are often delayed because very few members show up."

He predicted that only about five of 24 bills would likely be passed, namely the bills on a national system of science and technology, electricity, commission for eradication of corruption, property rights and child protection.

Political analyst Arbi Sanit said the House's sluggishness was a serious disservice to the public.

He believed those bills which should have been given top priority, such as the freedom to obtain public information bill, had not been touched.

Two bills, which many believe should have been given top priority -- the political party bill and the election bill -- were only submitted a few weeks ago and the inquiry committees to deliberate upon them will not be set up until July 1.

Firman dismissed speculation of a delaying tactic on the part of legislators.

"It is not that legislators do not follow the agenda or do not want to meet the deadline on purpose," Firman said.

Director for the Center of Electoral Reform (Cetro) Hadar N. Gumay said the House members were too busy with their personal business as most regard their main jobs as additional work.

He added that the House had, in past sessions, failed to deliberate upon three important bills on politics, namely the electoral bill, the political party bill and the bill on the formation and position of the House and the People's Legislative Assembly (MPR).

He predicted that the House would only start debating the political bills after the MPR Annual Session in August and finish the debate at the end of 2002, giving only a very short time to prepare for the 2004 elections.

"Thus, we can't expect a strong general election in 2004," Hadar said.

Political parties should punish their members who were reluctant to carry out their legislative duties by cutting salaries, he said.