House to initiate reform through legislative action

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) made a surprising and rare decision yesterday to initiate reforms through the review of key political, economic and legal legislation.

The decision was announced here yesterday immediately after House leaders and leading figures of the four factions met to discuss measures to accommodate growing public appeals for reform.

"Political reform will be enacted through revisions on the electoral law, the law on political organizations and Golkar, and the law on the composition and structure of the People's Consultative Assembly and the House of Representatives," House speaker Harmoko told journalists.

"Economic reforms will be enacted through revisions of the antimonopoly law, the consumer protection law and the banking law.

"And legal reforms will be accomplished through revisions in the antisubversion law and the anticorruption law," he added.

Harmoko said each of the House's four factions -- Golkar, the United Development party (PPP), the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the Armed Forces (ABRI) -- would soon act to uphold people's aspirations through discussions and dialog with related experts.

"The results will be compiled in a House meeting and proposed through drafts of laws," he said.

The House's decision comes on the heels of a statement by President Soeharto that he supported reforms and that preparations should be made to accommodate them.

Harmoko asserted yesterday that the House was committed to reforms and said it would employ its rarely used right of initiative.

"And we'll initiate our own drafts of required laws, instead of just accommodating the drafts provided by the government," he said.

The use of the House's right to initiate legislation is seen by some as a bold decision, especially since legislators have neglected to use it for some years.

Asked about the possibility of changing the general election system from a proportional to a district system as hinted by Soeharto, Harmoko said it would be included in the dialog with experts and could be accommodated in the draft for the electoral law.

He said the idea of having Armed Forces members actively involved in general elections would also be discussed.

Harmoko, however, dismissed the possibility of holding an extraordinary session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

"An extraordinary session would be held only if the President acts against the 1945 Constitution and the State Policy Guidelines," Harmoko replied when asked. "Currently, there are not enough grounds to ask for an Assembly extraordinary session".

The 1,000-strong Assembly reelected Soeharto for a seventh consecutive five-year term in March. (imn)