House goes into recess with massive workload to finish

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 07/03/2009 7:30 PM  |  National

The House of Representatives went into recess Friday with a backlog of over 60 bills awaiting lawmakers when they resume parliament on Aug. 14.

“So far, the House has managed to pass 166 out of the 284 bills submitted for deliberation,” House Speaker Agung Laksono told a plenary meeting in Jakarta.

He said legislators should commit to completing their duties when they regroup for the final sitting session, which will end on Sept. 30.

If the House fails to resolve the 64 remaining bills, it will incur more than Rp 100 billion (US$9.6 million) in state losses.

Agung said recently that the process for deliberating a law cost between Rp 1.5 billion and Rp 2 billion on average. Part of the cost stems from field trips and the research.

“Some of the bills awaiting deliberation are of high importance to the public, such as the Corruption Court bill. The House must pass the bill into law before the end of September,” he said.

The Constitutional Court ruled in 2006 that the current Corruption Court violated the Constitution, as it was established under the 2002 law on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), instead of the law on judicial powers.

The new law regarding the Corruption Court must be enacted by December 2009

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