House serious about drafting laws: Legislator
House serious about drafting laws: Legislator
JAKARTA (JP): Legislator contended that the House of
Representatives has never neglected its main legislative duties,
but admitted that there are many things hampering it from
achieving optimum results.
House legislative body chairman Zain Badjeber said on Thursday
that the House has set a target whereby, from now until 2004, it
would complete the deliberation of some 240 laws, starting with
the most crucial items such as political laws.
"From now until 2004 we will process some 240 drafts, while
this year we are set to pass some 64 laws in accordance with the
priorities that we have made," Zain said.
"We can even add some 20 percent to 30 percent in extra
drafts, as some of the regulations planned for the years 2002 and
2003 will be discussed this year to accommodate the people's
aspirations," he claimed.
The senior legislator from the United development Party (PPP)
was responding to President Abdurrahman Wahid's nationally
televised address which criticized the House for concentrating
too heavily on control duties and neglecting their law-making
obligations.
Zain's forecast of increased productivity is in stark contrast
to the House's performance over the last four months, during
which time legislators have only managed to pass less than 10
laws.
Highlighting the issue, in the opening of the House sitting
session last week, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung reminded the
legislators of their duties, noting that the country awaits the
processing of many bills.
Zain argued that there are many problems hampering the law-
making process, such as the lengthy four-stage discussion
procedure between the government and the House for each draft.
"We will amend the current internal regulations so that each
draft will only be discussed twice. So, you see we are serious
about it," he remarked.
Another issue cited was the regulation that obligates the
presence of respective ministers in each discussion, while in
reality the ministers can not always attend the sessions.
"So, we are suggesting that maybe a minister be permitted to
appoint one of their director generals to attend the hearing on
their behalf," Zain added. (dja)