New House rules fall short of expectations
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The long-awaited code of ethics and internal regulations that the House of Representatives (DPR) adopted on Tuesday turned out to be a disappoinment.
They are, in fact, a revised version of a much-criticized set of internal rules drafted during the authoritarian New Order government. The rules were seen as discouraging House members from taking a tough stand on government policies.
The code of ethics falls short of the expectations of many because there are no clear-cut penalties stated for recalcitrant legislators.
Breaches of the code of ethics will be handled by an ad hoc committee, which has yet to be established.
Ethics among legislators became a major issue last month when a House member allegedly received a travelers' cheque from a government official. The incident gave credence to the public perception that corruption is widespread within the legislative body.
The fundamental change in the law is that now legislators have nothing to fear when they want to criticize anybody because the new rules guarantee their freedom.
In the past, legislators could be recalled by their respective political parties if their views put the party leaders in a difficult position in its relations with then president Soeharto.
The most controversial part of the new rules is that it requires a minimum of 10 legislators to be able to form a political faction in the House.
The rule provoked a strong protest from the tiny Christian- based Love the Nation Democratic Party (PDKB) faction, which has only five members.
Under the new rule, the faction has to be dissolved or amalgamated with another faction.
The passage of the law on Tuesday was relatively smooth as, of the eleven House factions, only PDKB objected to it.
However, after being briefed about its passage earlier through the House, the faction also approved the code, but with several reservations.
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 in charge of 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 reduction in the number of legislators attending the meeting at noon.
At 12:37 p.m., legislator Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, who chaired the meeting, closed the session, indicating that the regulations had been approved.
The new rules seek tougher penalties for legislators who absent themselves from a hearing, a session or a deliberation on a bill.
Commenting on the newly approved law, Hadar N. Gumay from the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) said the identity of lazy legislators ought to be made public.
"There must be public scrutiny. The record of their absence should be open to the public. This will produce a kind of moral pressure on them," Hadar told The Jakarta Post.
Crucial points in the internal rules: - article 14: a faction must have at least 10 members - article 59 (2): penalties range from an oral warning to a written warning to dismissal. - article 60 (3): the dismissal shall be confirmed by presidential decree. - article 220 (2): a faction that has less than 10 members should take necessary action within 3 months of this law being passed - article 6 (2): absence on three consecutive occasions without permission shall constitute a breach of the code of ethics.