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 ------------------------------------------------------------ No. Subject ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ---------------------------------------------------- Source: House's Secretariat