Legislators do not deserve more money: Activists

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Anticorruption campaigners questioned on Wednesday a demand from the House of Representatives (DPR) for additional funds for bill deliberations, arguing that the legislators' disappointing performance did not warrant a financial reward.

Teten Masduki of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) and political analyst Denny J.A. suspected that the funds, if granted, would be spent on entertainment and other unrelated activities rather than bill deliberations.

"Legislators do not deserve a higher budget. Megawati must not give in to their demands," Teten told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Denny, the host of the Legislature Watch talk show, broadcast by a private television station, added that it would be easy to revise the budget plan, but the reason was not strong enough.

Denny said the public was too disappointed with the performance of the House in legislation, therefore the demand did not have solid grounds.

The House's failure to meet its legislation duties has eventually put reform movement on hold.

Both Teten and Denny were commenting on a demand by House leaders during a consultation meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri for more funds.

Speaking to the media after the closed-door meeting, Megawati said that additional funds would be used to speed up the law- making process.

She did not specify the amount requested by legislators or whether she had agreed to the demand.

Teten said the public questioned the demand because the legislators could not give a better performance in their legislative role.

In the last session from Jan. 7 through March 28, the House passed only three bills into law despite its earlier set target of 24 bills.

Deputy House speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno hoped at the session's opening on May 13 that it would complete the deliberation of 22 bills.

However, only two bills have been passed into law and the session is scheduled to end on Friday.

With only two days left, it will be impossible for the House to meet its target.

Critics have said a lack of discipline and political bickering among legislators were the main reasons for the poor performance in legislation.

"Is it true that the poor legislative record is caused by a lack of funds? I am afraid they would be spent to fund activities outside the House building," Teten said.

Teten, a tough anticorruption campaigner, said that the legislators receive enough in their salary to cope with their legislative tasks. Therefore, additional funds were not needed, he said.

Each legislator earns about Rp 12.4 million (US$1,370) per month. A legislator also receives Rp 750,000 for every bill deliberated and an additional Rp 300,000 for each hearing with counterparts.

Legislator Djoko Susilo of the Reform faction said that the Rp 300,000 was not given at every hearing. "It's not certain. Sometimes I get the money, but other times I don't," he told the Post.

He said that the budget for every bill to be deliberated was estimated at Rp 1 billion.

The money was spent to fund comparative studies in foreign countries and consultations with scholars as well as to outline the bills and make them available to the public.

Denny, meanwhile, said poor legislation was mainly because of legislators' interest in political bickering over hot issues.

"Legislators are enthusiastic in responding to hot issues, but they are not disciplined in legislative activities," he said without elaborating.