Legislators skip bill debate

Legislators skip bill debate

JAKARTA: Many of the legislators deliberating the truth and
reconciliation bill skipped the debate on Wednesday without
explanation.

Only 13 of the 50 members of the House Special Committee
attended Wednesday's debate, despite claims by committee chairman
Sidarto Danusubroto that 26 legislators signed the attendance
sheet.

No legislators from Vice President Hamzah Haz's United
Development Party (PPP) showed up. There was no explanation for
their absence.

According to Sidarto of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), many legislators
were in the constituencies campaigning ahead of the elections.

"I will have to contact committee members one by one to attend
this meeting," he said during the debate, which was attended by
Minister of Justice and Human Right Yusril Ihza Mahendra.

Sidarto said the Daulatul Ummah Party (PDU) faction had sent a
letter dated Feb. 9, 2004, announcing that it rejected the bill.

He did not detail the reasons behind the PDU's rejection.

The bill offers out-of-court settlements for human rights
abuses that took place before 2000, the year Law No. 26/2000 on
the human rights tribunal was passed. -- JP