Political laws, presidency bill top priorities at House
Political laws, presidency bill top priorities at House
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives (DPR) has put the revision of
political laws and a bill on the presidency as top priorities for
deliberation in the next House session scheduled to commence on
May 13.
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said on Tuesday that drafts of
revised political laws were expected to be submitted to the House
by the home ministry in the next few days.
Political laws, which consist of laws on political parties,
elections and the composition of the DPR and the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR), are urgently needed for preparations
of the general election in 2004.
Legislators are also expected to complete deliberation on the
17 bills approved by the DPR during the last session.
"If I am not mistaken, the number of unfinished bills is 17,"
Akbar said on Tuesday.
The bills that legislators failed to deliberate upon last
session included a resolution of industrial disputes, a
commission on corruption eradication, electricity, legal pardons
and property rights.
Akbar also said the House plenary meeting on May 13 would be
opened by deputy House speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno.
"Because I have to attend the trial process," said Akbar,
referring to his ongoing trial for allegedly misappropriating Rp
40 billion from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).
Chairman of the House's Legislative Body Zein Badjeber said on
Monday that the bill on the presidency, once enacted, would
supplement other regulations, such as the one on corruption
eradication.
The draft of the presidency bill had been prepared before the
reform era (pre-1998) but was just made public during the
presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid in March of last year.
"We hope the bill can be brought up for deliberation in the
next session," Zein said here on Monday.
The bill on the presidency was among the 76 bills scheduled
for legislative deliberation before December 2002.
It should have been completed in March but was delayed
following a request from President Megawati Soekarnoputri to
delay the deliberation on grounds that the Cabinet was still
assessing the draft.
The bill consisting of nine chapters and 49 articles would
regulate everything related to the authority and the institution
of the president.
The bill, he added, would also set a limit on the maximum
value of gifts the president may accept.
According to Zein, the bill put the maximum amount to Rp 25
million. "There was problem in the era of president Abdurrahman
Wahid because there was no regulation," he said.
Abdurrahman, popularly known as Gus Dur, had allegedly
received US$2 million from the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah
as a personal gift, and opposition legislators manipulated that
to accuse him of "corruption".
Zein revealed that the bill would also call for certain
criteria for the president to appoint Cabinet ministers, military
commanders, and police chiefs.