House reluctant to discuss bills

JAKARTA: Despite the promises, legislators have spent little time during their recess deliberating bills on presidential elections and the composition of legislative bodies.

The special committee deliberating the presidential election bill will only convene for eight days during the two-month recess, while the committee debating the bill on the composition of legislative bodies has yet to meet at all.

The committee on presidential elections has met the home minister and is expected to collect more opinions from scholars as well as the General Elections Commission.

Meanwhile, the committee deliberating the bill on the composition of legislative bodies will only meet on April 22. A committee member, Baharuddin Aritonang of the Golkar Party, said on Sunday the meeting would only discuss the timetable of the bill's deliberation, not the actual contents. -- JP