Long-awaited code of ethics at legislature approved
Long-awaited code of ethics at legislature approved
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives (DPR) finally approved the long-
awaited code of ethics and internal regulations for legislators
in a plenary session on Tuesday after being delayed due to
shortcomings identified in its draft.
From of the eleven House factions, only the faction of the
Love the Nation Democratic Party (PDKB) objected to the code of
ethics and regulations.
After being briefed on the process of its deliberation,
however, the faction, which has five members, also approved the
code, but with several notes.
PDKB only initially opposed approval of the code of ethics
because Article 14 of the regulations states that each faction is
required to have a minimum membership of 10 persons.
G. Seto Haryanto of PDKB interrupted the session, arguing that
if the regulations were approved, the faction would be forced to
merge with other factions.
PDKB was forced to accept the regulations, however, after it
was explained that at an earlier meeting of the commission
charged with deliberating the regulations, all factions had
agreed to accept them.
Manasse Malo, another PDKB member, also raised his objection
to approval of the new regulations because, according to him, the
session did not have a quorum due to a fall in the number of
legislators attending the meeting at noon.
At 12:37 p.m., Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno closed the session,
indicating that the regulations were approved.
The regulations consist of 28 chapters with 222 articles. The
most prominent regulation is Article 14 regarding the minimum
membership of factions, which stipulates that within three months
after adopting the regulations, each faction having less than
five members is required to abide by the new ruling.
Article 59 deals with the sanctioning of legislators found to
have violated a regulation, including their possible dismissal
from the legislature, according to Detik.com.
Article 120 to 122 deal with streamlining the deliberation of
draft legislation from four stages to only two, with the first
stage involving the relevant commission, legislative body, budget
committee and a meeting between the special committee and the
government. The second stage consists of a plenary session to
enact the draft into law.