Penalty awaits lazy legislators

Penalty awaits lazy legislators

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Instead of discussing House of Representatives' Speaker Akbar
Tandjung being named a suspect in the Bulog scandal, House
members on Tuesday simply discussed the possibility of penalizing
lazy and careless legislators.

The status of Akbar as a suspect was announced by Attorney
General MA Rachman in a year-end report by his office on Monday.

However, the two-hour consultative faction meeting at the
House on Tuesday did not mention Akbar's status simply because
the issue was not on the agenda.

The meeting focused only on penalizing lazy legislators, who
frequently avoid parliamentary meetings for other activities.

Ironically, Tuesday's meeting was attended by only 258 of the
486 legislators. Many legislators were absent without clear
reasons.

After leaders of the House reach an agreement to set up an ad-
hoc disciplinary committee, punishments will be set.

When Akbar was asked if the disciplinary committee would also
assess his suspect status, he said that the issue was not
discussed at the meeting.

"The penalty will be determined by a committee to be set up
soon. Details on the penalty will be discussed later," House
Speaker Akbar Tandjung told a press conference after the meeting.

Akbar, who was accompanied by House deputy speaker Tosari
Widjaja, confirmed that all faction leaders had agreed to uphold
the revised internal regulations in a bid to boost legislative
performance.

Based on the internal regulations the House revised last
October, any violation by the legislators carries a maximum
penalty of dismissal.

Those dubbed the "lazy legislators" include Taufik Kiemas,
husband of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was criticized
early last month for leading a ministerial delegation to China.

Akbar said details on the establishment of the disciplinary
committee would be discussed at a meeting of the House steering
committee on Thursday.

Asked if the disciplinary committee would also assess his
suspect status, Akbar simply said that it was not mentioned at
the meeting.

The consultative meeting, however, discussed dozens of
unsolved bills. According to Akbar, the meeting had agreed to
outline priorities to be taken by the legislators to cope with
the deliberation of those bills.

Touching on the government's newly-launched drive for
efficiency, Akbar said that all factions had agreed to support
the policy.

However, at their first meeting on Monday most if not all
legislators wore suits instead of shirts as required by the drive
to show modesty. A Jaguar sedan was also seen in the parking lot.