Legislators skip sessions, important bills untouched

Legislators skip sessions, important bills untouched

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives (DPR) once again showed its lack of
professionalism to the public on Thursday when its steering
committee (Bamus) failed to form teams to deliberate the much-
debated bills on antiterrorism due to low attendance.

The meeting of the steering committee was delayed until next
Tuesday because it failed to make a quorum. Of the committee's 76
members, only 27 showed up.

The meeting was also supposed to discuss a petition signed by
more than 150 legislators to unseat House Speaker Akbar Tandjung,
who was convicted by the Central Jakarta District Court of
corrupting Rp 40 billion (US$4.6 million) in state funds.

Deputy House Speaker A.M. Fatwa who was supposed to head the
meeting confirmed that the delay was due to poor attendance.

To reach a quorum, at least half of the 76 members must attend
the meeting.

"Well, we cannot reach the mandatory quorum. We can't do
anything," Fatwa simply said.

With the failure of the House of Representatives (DPR) to set
up teams to deliberate the bills on antiterrorism, it is unlikely
that the bills will be ready by the end of this year.

Previously, all factions at the House pledged to finish the
deliberation on the antiterrorism bills in this session which
will end on Nov. 29. With only one week left, it will be
impossible for legislators to meet the targeted deadline.

Likewise, the legislators will not be able to finish the
deliberation of the much-awaited general elections bill during
this session.

The bill is still being deliberated.

When asked if this situation indicated that the House had no
commitment to meet its legislative duties, Fatwa simply replied:
"Well, you can see for yourself."

Fatwa denied speculations that the poor attendance in the
meeting of the steering committee was designed to stop a move by
legislators to unseat Akbar.

In addition to the bills and the petition against Akbar, the
steering committee was supposed to discuss other issues,
including a bill on the formation of a new province of West
Sulawesi and a bill on the protection of Indonesian workers
abroad.

Poor attendance was also shown in two separate sessions on
Thursday: one to deliberate the controversial broadcasting bill
and the second to endorse the bill on building construction.

Of the 50 members of a special committee deliberating the
broadcasting bill, only about 12 legislators were present.

Poor attendance was also shown by legislators earlier in the
day at a plenary meeting on the endorsement of the bill on
building construction.

The plenary meeting was delayed for one hour apparently to
wait for the arrival of legislators. Only 150 legislators of the
total 500 House members were registered on the attendance list
when the plenary meeting was opened.

Based on Article 189 of the House Standing Orders, a meeting
in the House can make a decision only if the meeting is attended
by more than half of the meeting's members representing more than
half of the factions.

Fatwa, who also presided over the plenary meeting, was not
bothered by the poor attendance and quickly banged the gavel to
authorize the endorsement of the bill.

The bill on building construction was submitted to the House
on March 12 last year. Legislators took almost two years to
finish the bill.

The bill on building construction consists of 10 chapters and
49 articles.

In his acceptance speech, Minister for Settlement and
Infrastructure Soenarno revealed that the bill required four
government regulations to make it effective.

He pledged that the government would finish the four
regulations within one year.