House keeps on working during recess

House keeps on working during recess

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite being officially in recess from March 8 through March 25,
the House of Representatives will keep on working to speed up the
deliberation of the bill on presidential elections, and the bill
on the composition of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR),
the House and the provincial, regency and municipality
legislatures.

Ahmad Farhan Hamid, a member of the House special committee
deliberating the presidential elections bill, said that the
committee was expected to resume the deliberation of the bill
next week, and the process was scheduled to continue until March
24.

"We will hear the government's explanations on the
presidential elections bill," Farhan, of the Reform faction, told
reporters here on Monday.

Earlier, committee chairman Agustin Teras Narang, of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), said
that the plan to work through the recess had been agreed upon by
all nine factions on the special committee.

Although the recess lasts for 35 days, the special committee
will actually only spend about eight days deliberating the bill,
not nearly enough to finish its work.

After hearing explanations from the home affairs minister on
March 24, the House factions will present their views and
suggestions on March 26.

The House special committee deliberating the bill on the
composition of the legislative bodies also plans to work through
the recess, but committee chairman Yahya Zaini, of the Golkar
faction, was not available for further comment.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has called on the House
to speed up the deliberation of the two bills so that it will
have adequate time to draft schedules for the general and
presidential elections, and make the necessary preparations.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung promised that legislators would
complete work on the bills during the next session from April 28
to June 27.

The legislators' plan to work through recess will mean more
expense for the House secretariat. Legislators receive an
allowance of Rp 750,000 per day of attendance regardless of how
long it takes for work on a bill to be completed.

Sometimes, legislators also receive bonuses ranging from Rp
250,000 to Rp 500,000 for deliberation of a bill, according to a
reliable source.

Meanwhile, the deliberation of the bill on presidential
elections will likely be dominated by debates on the requirements
demanded of presidential and vice presidential candidates.

The Reform faction has suggested that presidential candidates
must be at least university graduates while many other factions
support the government's proposal that a presidential candidate
should possess at least a senior high school certificate.

"There is no guarantee that a candidate with a university
education will not violate the law. Of the utmost importance is
that a presidential candidate is wise," said PDI Perjuangan
legislator Firman Jaya Daeli here on Monday.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who chairs the PDI
Perjuangan, is not a university graduate.

Firman said it was more important to specifically bar those
officially declared as suspects and those convicted of crimes
from running in presidential elections.

He was commenting on Article 6 of the bill on presidential and
vice presidential elections, which sets out the requirements for
presidential and vice presidential candidates.

The bill submitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs stipulates
that candidates must be at least senior high school graduates.