House told to concentrate on legislation agenda
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Political observers are calling on legislators to abandon their penchant for political maneuvering, otherwise time will run out on the deliberation of 22 bills due to be approved in three months.
J.Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said that legislators were "trapped in short-term political infighting".
"This trend is regrettable," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Fellow observer Jimly Ashidiqqie from the University of Indonesia (UI) said that legislators should not brush aside their legislative tasks.
"The legislation's function cannot be ignored, because it is badly needed to form an effective system," Jimly added.
Both Kristiadi and Jimly were commenting on maneuvers by different groups of legislators who had submitted a petition demanding that President Megawati Soekarnoputri appear at the House of Representatives to explain the source of the Rp 30 billion in financial aid donated to the military and her recent visit to East Timor.
In addition to the petition, legislators are considering setting up a special committee to inquire about the misuse of Rp 40 billion in funds belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).
A plenary meeting is scheduled on June 11 to discuss the establishment of the inquiry committee to launch a transparent investigation into the alleged involvement of House Speaker and Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung.
All these agendas would take much of the legislators' time as they need to bargain to reach political deals.
Legislator Yahya Zaini acknowledged that fellow members of the House had often ignored their main duties and engaged in power struggles instead.
He agreed that legislators should make their legislative affairs a top priority. "Such concerns are understandable," he told the Post.
During their last session in January, legislators had targeted to complete the deliberation of 22 bills but it could only enact three into law.
The validity of one of those three laws, on money laundering, was questioned because it was passed at a plenary meeting attended by less than 50 legislators.
The incident prompted House leaders to issue a warning to faction leaders whose members rarely showed up at legislation meetings.
Deputy House Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno pledged at the opening of the current session on May 13 that the House would finish the deliberation of 22 bills.
But Kristiadi feared that the target would not be achieved.
The legislators, he said, should focus on the deliberation of some crucial bills, such as much-awaited bills on elections, political parties and the composition of the DPR, MPR and regional legislative councils, instead of campaigning to summon the President on different issues.