House kicks off new legislative term, crucial bills await
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After a month-long recess that included the Idul Fitri, Christmas and New Year's holidays, the House of Representatives (DPR) will begin a new session on Monday with a number of crucial bills awaiting deliberation.
At least seven of the most crucial bills must be completed soon; five of them were supposed to have been settled last year.
The seven bills are four antiterrorism bills, a bill on general elections, a bill on the composition of the legislative bodies and a bill on presidential and vice presidential elections.
The last two bills are expected to be submitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs this month. The two bills, together with the bill on general elections and an approved political party bill, are crucial for the preparations for the 2004 general election.
Failure to pass the remaining bills on elections will disrupt the 2004 general election, when the nation is expected to witness a direct presidential election.
The House plans to complete deliberation of the general elections bill on Jan. 30. As for the other two political bills, it is not yet clear when the government will unveil to them to the public.
Uncertainty also surrounds the fate of the antiterrorism bills, with the House yet to establish a committee to deliberate the bills.
The chairman of the House's Legislation Body, Zein Badjeber, said the special committee that will eventually deliberate the four antiterrorism bills would only be set up on Jan. 20. However, he said deliberation of the bills would be completed by March 8, when legislators begin another recess.
The antiterrorism bills were submitted to the House last November. It will take more than two months for the House to set up a special committee to deliberate the bills, needed by the government to fight terrorism.
Legislators have been unable to meet legislation targets in their last four sessions. Critics have accused legislators of being more interested in engaging in political affairs than in their jobs.
As in the previous sitting, the legislative agenda of this session may again be disrupted as legislators busy themselves with various political causes.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) legislator Firman Jaya Daeli, a member of the House's Legislation Body, warned the lawmakers to focus on their work and complete the legislation.
"Motions to summon ministers should not drive legislators to ignore their responsibility with legislation," Firman said, referring to the legislators' motions to summon several ministers over the increase in utility prices, the sale of the government's stake in state telecommunications firm PT Indosat to Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte. Ltd. and the loss of the Sipadan and Ligitan islands.
Legislators will spend the next eight weeks on various agendas, not only legislation. They will convene to discuss legislation, people's aspirations and the interests of each of their political parties.