Lawmakers to focus more on legislation

The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Starting next year, all House of Representatives commissions will have to submit reports on their work programs prior to a new sitting period to keep track of their progress and performance, House Speaker Agung Laksono said on Wednesday.

The reports, which Agung said would be made public, should include priority issues and the target of bills to be passed to keep each commission focused on the work and the schedules set out.

"These targets, in my opinion, should be submitted to the House leadership and made public at the end of a sitting period or at least as soon as a new one kicks off, so there's a sense of responsibility," Agung said.

He said he thought the current House members had done well in supervising the government and debating the state budget.

"You see how tight and strict House members are in reviewing the government's performance. And you see how tired they due to having to stay until midnight to draft the state budget," he said.

But the House's legislation function had not been as expected, Agung said.

The target of passing 55 laws this year is likely to be missed since only 12 have been passed so far. Legislators and the government have been blaming each other for the shortfall.

The House is expected to deliberate and endorse 284 bills by the end of its term in 2009.

Agung admitted that House members had been focusing on their political jobs and had overlooked their legislation duties.

"In most cases we have to wait quite a long time for the President to issue a letter delegating ministers to represent the government in a bill deliberation," he said.

But some House members said they barely had time to deliberate bills due to their workload of supervising the government. Legislators are usually assigned to two or more committees that work simultaneously to deliberate bills.

Agung said the House needed a new design for legislators' work schedule to avoid overlapping meetings.

"A new system will make it possible for House members to divide their time so that they can also focus on their legislation function," he said.

The House is striving to pass 43 bills next year.