Truant council members to face dismissals in North Sumatra

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Truant legislators in North Sumatra will be subject to dismissal if the provincial legislative council approves a standing order on this issue later in the month.

Sigit Pramono Asri, a member of the council's special committee deliberating the standing order, said on Friday that all committee members had agreed on a stipulation allowing the dismissal of truant councillors.

However, the final decision would be put before the 85-member council later this month, he added.

He said the plan to impose severe sanctions on councillors for disciplinary offenses, such as absenteeism, was a result of the poor performance of the 1999-2004 council.

Absenteeism was rampant among members of the previous council, which affected its performance in deliberating bills, said Sigit, who is himself one of the reelected legislators.

"It's our moral commitment as the people's representatives to uphold discipline. So there is a need to impose sanctions on lazy councillors," he told The Jakarta Post.

The decision refers to Article 109 of Government Regulation No. 25/2004, which mandates sanctions against truant state officials, he added.

Sigit said that under the new standing order, councillors must attend all council meetings in person and that those failing to show up would be required to give written notice to their faction leaders.

Councillors who failed to turn up for three consecutive meetings without giving written notice would be issued with written reprimands by their faction leaders, he said.

A failure to attend council meetings for three consecutive months without giving acceptable reasons would constitute an violation of the council code of conduct and violators could be dismissed from the council, he added.

Rijal Sirait, another special committee member, agreed that the issue of absenteeism needed to be responded to seriously by the council in a bid to boost its image among the voters.

A proposal to dismiss a truant councillor would have to be recommended by the council's disciplinary committee to the relevant faction leader, who would then submit it to his faction for follow-up, he explained.

"So, a decision to fire a councillor will be made by his own faction. In the past, factions recalled their members for outspokenness or critical comments.

"But now legislators can been recalled from the council for failing to promote the people's aspirations or for merely coming to meetings, and doing nothing," Rijal said.

Support for the proposed standing order allowing the dismissal of absentee councillors also came from another councillor, Fadli Nurzal. "It's a positive move designed to prevent council members from simply showing up for no other reason than to collect their stipends," he said.