House moves more bills for deliberation

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite its failure to meet its legislative targets in past sessions, the House of Representatives (DPR) submitted on Monday eight more bills for deliberation with government officials.

With only three weeks to go in the current session, the bills will very likely be discussed during the next House session, which will commence in mid-August.

This session, which started on May 13, will end on July 19. Legislators will convene for the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) from Aug. 1 through Aug. 12.

In the current session, which lasts for two-and-a-half months, the House is supposed to complete the deliberation of 22 bills. The legislative body, however, will only finish five bills at best.

Political bickering and lack of discipline among legislators are widely seen as being to blame for the House's poor legislative performance.

"We'll let the House steering committee (Bamus) arrange the schedule for further deliberation," said House deputy speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno responding to the proposal.

Meanwhile, legislator Azhar Muchlis, of the Golkar Party faction, said while commenting on the bill on witness and victim protection that the existence of a fair trial was a symbol of a democratic state.

The flowing trial process, he said, was based on the presence of evidences and one of the evidences was witness.

"So far the society and the security officials give neither attention nor protection to the witnesses and victims," he said.

Most of the eight bills were submitted to revise the existing laws.

The bill on fishery, for example, was submitted to revise the existing Law No.9/1985 on Fishery. According to the legislators, some articles in the law had been out of date.