House set to discuss 30 bills next session
House set to discuss 30 bills next session
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After enjoying a six-week break, the House of Representatives
(DPR) on Friday opened a new session and promised to finish the
deliberation of some 30 bills, including the ones that could not
be finished in past sessions.
In his speech marking the opening of the session, House
Speaker Akbar Tandjung acknowledged that the House had been
criticized for its poor performance in legislation.
"However, we'll try hard to overcome the hurdles and improve
our performance," Akbar, who was convicted of corruption last
year, said at a plenary meeting attended by President Megawati
Soekarnoputri here.
The current session will last from Aug. 15 to Sept. 26,
meaning that the House must endorse nearly one bill a day if it
wants to achieve its legislation target.
Akbar made the excuse that the poor legislation record was due
to the House's willingness to accommodate public aspirations
during the deliberation of bills.
He also blamed the government for its tardiness in appointing
related ministers to deliberate on the bills drafted by the
House.
The record shows that the House has not been able to meet its
target of legislation in even one of its sessions to date.
Since January 2002, the House has always missed its
legislation target.
Of the targeted 41 bills in the April-July session, the House
only endorsed five bills. Legislators and the government had to
work during recess to meet the deadline for the establishment of
the Constitutional Court.
Among the bills to be finished during this session are bills
on Batam's free-trade and free-port, agriculture, on doctors, the
protection of Indonesian workers abroad and sports.
The legislators will also work on the State Budget which is to
take effect in January 2004.
Regarding the deliberation of the State Budget 2004, Akbar
said that the government must take several key priorities into
account, such as efforts to keep economic growth sustainable,
human rights development, poverty eradication, food security,
political stability, corruption, defense and security affairs,
development in underdeveloped areas and forest conservation.
Akbar added that the House would host a conference of ASEAN
Inter-Parliamentary Organizations (AIPO) in September.
The five-day conference will deal with problems in politics,
economics and regional security.
Following the AIPO conference, there will also be a meeting of
the executive committee of the parliament of the Organization of
Islamic Conference (OIC) members.
In a plenary session attended by only 263 of 500 House
members, Akbar condemned the bomb blast at the American-run JW
Marriott Hotel on Aug. 5.
He also conveyed his condolences to the relatives and victims
of the bomb blast.
Bills targeted for endorsement
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No. Subject
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1. Procedure of Legislation
2. Presidency
3. Banking Credit
4. Freedom of Information
5. Doctor's Practice
6. Sports
7. Bankruptcy
8. Geothermal Energy
9. Bank Liquidation
10. Agriculture
11. Fisheries
12. Batam Free Trade
13. General Court
14. Supreme Court
15. Judges
16. Attorneys
17. Witness and Victim Protection
18. State Administrative Court
19. Eradication of Race Discrimination
20. Jakarta Administration
21. Post Office Affairs
22. Domestic Violence
23. Protection of Indonesian Workers
24. West Sulawesi Province
25. Water Resources
26. Judicial Commission
27. Ombudsman
28. State Secrecy
29. National Insurance
30. Monetary Authority
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Source: House's Secretariat