Lazy legislators disrupt House agenda

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Legislators failed on Thursday to set a schedule for their activities, which include, among others things, the deliberation of at least 22 crucial bills on various issues for this session.

The setback was not caused by political debate and gridlock, but simply because of the absence of the majority of legislators at a meeting of the Steering Committee of the House of Representatives.

Less than half of the 76 members of the Steering Committee were present, so they were unable to reach a quorum. No clear reasons for their absence were made public.

Article 189 of the House internal regulations stipulates that any meeting can go ahead and make decisions if it is attended by more than half of the members.

The meeting was scheduled to arrange a tentative schedule of activities for the House session that will end on March 28.

House deputy speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, who was supposed to preside over the meeting, said that he was forced to wait for an hour expecting more legislators to show up, but not enough did.

"I regret this. We will send letters, urging faction leaders to penalize their delinquent members," Soetardjo said.

After waiting for an hour, Soetardjo opened the meeting at 2 p.m. to adjourn it until Monday.

Among the subjects scheduled for discussion at the meeting was the establishment of a Disciplinary Committee to assess the legislators' performance and the replacement of some legislators.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung promised during his opening speech on Monday that the House would work hard to deliberate the 22 bills on various issues.

The delay constitutes a setback, following a commitment from all factions made on Tuesday during a consultative meeting with House leaders that legislators would improve discipline.

Based on the internal regulations the House revised last October, any violation by the legislators carries a maximum penalty of dismissal.

The meeting on Tuesday was held in response to the increasing number of "lazy and careless" legislators who frequently avoid House discussions for other activities.

At Tuesday's meeting, the leaders of the 10 factions agreed to uphold an internal regulation of the House, especially to encourage the physical presence of legislators at every meeting.

The situation on Thursday was totally different from that of the Steering Committee on Dec. 10 last year, when legislators discussed the establishment of an inquiry team to investigate Akbar, who is also chairman of the Golkar Party. Only two of the 76 legislators were absent.