House has to pass 25 draft laws in 18 weeks
By Sugianto Tandra
JAKARTA (JP): Last Thursday, the House of Representatives (DPR) passed a draft law limiting monopolistic business practices, the first initiative of the House in decades.
However, legislators will find the next 18 weeks to be their busiest ever, as they still have a total of 25 draft laws to deliberate.
But will they sacrifice substance to meet the target?
"It will depend on the discussion techniques (during the deliberations). Not making a mountain out of a molehill with unsubstantial matters, for instance... We'll invite experts to give their insights," Hari Sabarno, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), said.
Hari admitted that an 11-member faction like the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) would find it hard to keep up with the bill deliberations, as the House is determined to work day and night to finish them.
One of the major decrees from November's general session of the People's Consultative Assembly, of which the legislators are members, was to do away with all forms of collusion, corruption and nepotism. The antimonopoly bill is a result of this decree.
Hari, who is an active Army lieutenant general and member of the ABRI faction in the DPR, said all concerned members of the public are not only urged to give their input, "but obliged" to as citizens of the country.
Hari said incumbent legislators have until Aug. 29 to deliberate the bills before the next House members elected in the June 7 polls take over their seats.
The current DPR has six months left, minus the recess of one and a half months for the elections from April 17 until June 14. So four and a half months remain for bill deliberations.
Earlier, cabinet deputy secretary Erman Radjagukguk showed optimism in the effectiveness of the new laws despite the tight schedule. He said there were a number of laws which had been in preparation since four years ago.
Some of the laws being deliberated by the 500 House members are said to be the initiative of the House itself -- for instance, the bill on consumer protection and that on the administration of haj pilgrimages.
The draft legislation covers the following issues:
* consumer protection
* the central bank
* foreign exchange traffic and bill rate system
* 1999/2000 state budget
* administration of the haj pilgrimage
* measures to prevent corruption, collusion and nepotism
* regional administration
* fiscal balance between the central and regional governments
* eradication of corrupt practices
* human rights and the National Commission on Human Rights
* foreign affairs
* oil and natural gas
* construction services
* amendments of the Criminal Code concerning crimes against the state
* ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 1965
* arbitration of and alternative choices to dispute settlements
* revocation of the referendum law
* revocation of Law No. 11/1963 on subversion
Seven other draft laws concern the changing of status of seven regions to regencies or mayoralties: Sambas in West Kalimantan, Cilegon and Depok in West Java, Dumai and Batam in Riau, Ternate in Maluku and Luwu in Central Sulawesi.
Hari said that, as time is limited, the deliberations would be prioritized.
At least nine draft laws could see short deliberations due to their brevity, he said.
Last on the priority list were the draft laws on natural gas and construction services.
The draft laws on arbitration and alternative choices to the settlement of disputes -- which is sponsored by the International Monetary Fund -- and on the ratification of the antidiscrimination convention, were others which legislators were expected to pass without much trouble, Hari said.
He said more lengthy deliberation was expected on the 12 other drafts. They would be investigated by special commissions, with legislators ready to work for more than 12 hours a day, Hari said.
Legislators will be paid between Rp 500,000 (US$60) to Rp 700,000 each for each bill in which they are involved.
Apart from the House building in Central Jakarta, Hari said the DPR was considering letting two special committees make use of its facility in Cisarua in the Puncak mountain resort area of West Java to deliberate the bills.
Public hearings on the bills, however, would be a priority, he said.