House falls behind schedule in bill deliberations
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.