House passes education bill

House passes education bill

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives endorsed the controversial education
bill on Wednesday despite the absence of the largest faction, the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

In its letter read out by deputy House secretary general
Faisal Djamal, PDI Perjuangan said it would stick to the previous
agreement signed by representatives of all factions to delay the
endorsement until June 17 in order to give the House time to
disseminate information on the bill to the public.

The plenary session was adjourned overnight to allow the PDI
Perjuangan faction to present its view of the bill after it
boycotted the assembly.

"We originally agreed with the substance of the bill, we just
want time for dialog with the people and religious leaders to
ease the controversy," PDI Perjuangan legislator Noviantika
Nasution told The Jakarta Post by phone.

The party's chairwoman, President Megawati Soekarnoputri,
reportedly ordered the faction to push for a delay due to the
opposition. PDI Perjuangan faction members boycotted the plenary
session on Tuesday, forcing lengthy lobbying that resulted in an
agreement to postpone the bill's passage for a week.

It remains unclear why PDI Perjuangan, the largest faction
with 153 seats, made the belated move.

Debate on the bill began on Oct. 1, 2001 and the faction did
not clearly communicate its opposition to the bill until the
final day of deliberations on June 9.

The bill has apparently divided the nation by religion, with
most of Muslim community in favor of it and the minority
Christian community against it. The two sides have persistently
put pressures on the House to heed their demands.

A PDI Perjuangan legislator and a close aide of Megawati who
requested anonymity, acknowledged the party chairwoman was late
in understanding the substance of the bill.

Despite their faction's approval, a number of legislators
expressed their opposition to the bill, including Tunggul Sirait,
Gregorius Seto Haryanto, Arnold Nicolas Radjawane, Manasse Malo
from the Love the Nation Democratic Party (PDKB), Berni Tamara
and Emanuel Blegur both from Golkar.

Spokeswoman for the Indonesian Nationhood Unity (KKI) faction
Astrid Susanto said that although the bill made some progress, it
also contained controversial articles.

KKI joined PDI Perjuangan in opposition to immediate
endorsement of the bill on Tuesday but voted in favor of it on
Wednesday.

Golkar legislator Baharuddin Aritonang admitted that the
debate on the education bill could not be separated from the
vested interests of the parties ahead of the 2004 elections.

He said political parties, including Golkar, agreed to endorse
or reject the bill to win the hearts of constituents or lure
votes ahead of the 2004 elections.

Like PDI Perjuangan, Golkar is a nationalist-oriented party.

It took the House just one hour to complete the session, which
was chaired by House deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar.

Representing the government, Minister of National Education
Abdul Malik Fadjar asserted the need to disseminate the bill to
the public in a bid to reduce controversy and tension.

The minister admitted he met President Megawati on Wednesday
afternoon to tell her the intentions of the seven House factions.

"As the President, she let the House continue its agenda,"
Malik told the press after the plenary meeting, which ended at
8:30 p.m.

Nur Iskandar Albarsany of the National Awakening Party (PKB)
and Priyo Budi Santoso of Golkar regretted the absence of the PDI
Perjuangan faction, saying it would give Megawati a pretext not
to sign the bill.

The 1945 Constitution states that a bill will come to effect
within 30 days of the House's endorsement, even without the
President's approval.

Highlights of the education bill

Article 7: All citizens aged between seven and 15 years must
obtain basic education.

Article 12: Central and regional administrations must provide
funds for the education of citizens aged between seven and 15 years.

Article 13 (1): Each student has the right to get religious
instruction by teachers of the same faith.

Article 37: Educational subjects must consider: Improvement
of faith, good conduct, potency, intellectuality, talent,
development needs, demands of the industrial sector, religion,
and national unity.

Article 68: Individuals or institutions that issue illegal
education certificates face a maximum 10 years in jail or Rp 1
billion (US$120,000) fine.

Article 71: Thesis fraud punishable by two years imprisonment
or Rp 200 million fine.