House told to concentrate on legislation agenda
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.