House's rights should be activated
House's rights should be activated
From Jayakarta
RCTI's Aneka Dialog on Nov. 14 had Fahmi Idris, a prominent student activist in 1966 and now a successful businessman, as one of its four guests.
Fahmi Idris made the remark, if I am not mistaken, that the House of Representatives should maximize its rights.
I am in complete agreement with him, because if the House does not avail itself of its rights, it is tantamount to belittling the people's sovereignty, even worse, letting mistakes go uncorrected.
There has been many important, basic matters that have not been followed up.
Findings by the State Audit Agency show many irregularities of state money management in development projects, in ministries and other agencies. We all know that the amount of money stolen is enormous and only a small part of it has been salvaged.
Bad debts have reached some Rp 250 trillion. Among the big businesses with bad debts only the Golden Key Group case has been brought to court. The discontinuation of bad debt investigations is probably connected to certain spheres of influence.
Some 15 years ago the "Petisi 50" group issued their "statement of concern" on things that called for investigation. Instead they were forbidden from traveling abroad. It was planned to isolate them on Buru island, for having defamed the government. It is regrettable that the matter has never been brought to court.
Meanwhile, according to my personal observation, a number of points in the "statement of concern" carry truth while some other points are hearsay.
Many members of the lower strata of our society often go to the House to file their complaints. It is a sign that the aspirations of parts of our society remain unfulfilled. The problems, such as land disputes, minimum wages, the arbitrariness of employers towards labor, need to be followed up by the appropriate agencies already in place.
I hope that the next speakers of the House of Representatives and People's Consultative Assembly will be civilians who are willing to stand amidst the people.
MAS SOEBANDI
West Jakarta