So much to do, so little time

So much to do, so little time

Honorable members of the House of Representatives returned to
work on Tuesday for a new session that will last only 18 working
days because of the upcoming Idul Fitri, Christmas and New Year
holidays.

With so much to do and so little time at its disposal, the
House would be wise to utilize it optimally to produce one or two
tangible results. At a time when the performance of both the
executive and legislative branches of the government are under
close public scrutiny, this is the very least that the honorable
members, elected or otherwise, could do for the nation.

If the House were to focus its attention on limited items,
instead of going for a very broad agenda during this short
working session, it might just present some meaningful results,
call them Idul Fitri or Christmas gifts, to the nation.

Conversely, failure to produce something significant could
further hurt the image of the House, which has increasingly been
seen as nothing more than a talking shop with little to show for
its efforts.

The House is already confronted by a long list of bills that
is should be deliberating, with a host of investigation hearings
to conduct and other numerous tasks to complete. It would be very
easy for the House to lose focus and to end the 18-day session
without producing anything of substance.

It would be even easier for House members to get distracted
and be dragged into new and often time-wasting polemics. We have
seen a lot of that recently, which explains why their
productivity is appallingly low when it comes to producing new
legislation.

Even the small amount of legislation that has been passed was
sent back for revision and amendment. Cases in point are the two
laws pertaining to regional autonomy, and the labor law.

The National Police bill was sent back to the drawing board
last month because of last-minute public opposition on the eve of
its final passage. Since then, there has been very little
publicity about the new law to convince us that the objections
raised about the bill have been addressed.

The National Police bill is a classic example of how
legislation, which affects the lives of many people, is
deliberated without the benefit of public hearings. We hope the
House has learned its lessons for future legislation.

It is worth remembering that the House has managed to empower
itself thanks, in no small measure, to the reform movement,
started three years ago. Both the legislative and executive
branches of the government owe their positions to the public.

With the executive branch at a loss for direction and
leadership, some of the onus has fallen on the House to provide
the impetus for furthering -- some might say restarting -- the
nation's reform agenda. With the administration seemingly devoid
of any sense of crisis, the House should become the better half
of the government and show the nation the gravity of the
situation facing the country today.

Unfortunately, some members of the House seem to have become
intoxicated by their new-found power. We have seen cases of abuse
of power and privileges by House members. The House, for example,
cannot be absolved from blame for stalling some of the crucial
economic reform programs of the government.

Given the strong public expectations, the House would do well
in using this brief session to prove cynics wrong. This is a good
time for the House to show that it can rise to the occasion.

That may be expecting too much. But the House would go a long
way toward repairing its public image by completing one or two of
the dozens of pending items in its agenda before it goes into
recess again on December 13.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, in his speech kicking off the
session on Tuesday, spelled out some of the more pressing agenda
items for the House over the next 17 days: the appointment of a
new police chief and of new ambassadors to the United States and
Saudi Arabia, the deliberations on a money laundering bill and
the passage of bills on the National Police and national
security.

To this list, we should add the debate on whether or not the
House should commence an investigation into the Bulog scandal,
which implicates Akbar himself. Surely, anything that smacks of
corruption and abuse of power in high places -- the Bulog case
seems to have those indications -- must be investigated. Clean
government and good governance, after all, are the goals of
reform.

May this be a very productive Ramadhan for honorable House
members.