House's legislative body to submit 4 draft laws

JAKARTA (JP): The Legislative Body of the House of Representatives (DPR) will submit four draft laws on the presidency, the regulation-making process, child protection and the banking credit system to the House speakers next week, a legislator said on Wednesday.

Chairman of the legislative body Zain Badjeber told journalists that the four drafts have gone through a series of discussions and are ready for deliberation, while citing the House's rights to initiate draft laws.

"Members of the body have signed the proposals and the four drafts are included in the prioritized draft laws for the House to pass in 2001," Badjeber said, while citing that 28 legislators from all 10 factions had signed the proposals.

"We may submit the draft laws next Monday, because we have finished studying the drafts today (Wednesday)," he added.

In response to strong public criticism that its legislative duties have been bogged down due to various political crusades against the executive, the House is due to pass 22 bills in the next three months to fulfill its legislative duties.

The four draft laws, however, are not included among the bills to be completed within this three-month period, but are among the prioritized bills for the 2001 period.

Badjeber said the draft law on the presidency will regulate several matters, including the separation between the President as head of state and as head of government as stipulated in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) decree No. 8/2000.

"The bill is not against the 1945 Constitution because the separation of the President's roles is covered in the explanatory section of the Constitution," he said.

The draft law will also cover the substitution of the President if he or she cannot perform presidential duties during his or her tenure.

"But we will not be concerned with the mechanism for replacing the national leadership as that will be the authority of the Assembly," he said.

Another draft law to be submitted is on the regulation-making process itself, and will be concerned with the official form of bills and the substance of each regulation proposed by both the government and the House.

"For example, a presidential decree will only be issued for state administrative matters," Badjeber said, adding that the draft law will cover all kinds of regulation from law to city bylaw.

The new draft law also requires that the House should sign all passed bills, so if the President declines to pass a bill within 30 days after it has been passed by the House, the bill can be enacted.

On the child protection draft law, Badjeber said it will include children's rights to education, parents' care and punishment for child abuse, harassment and neglect.

"After being submitted, all factions should provide their general observations on each draft before we can continue with further discussion. It will take some months," he added. (dja)