Hans David Tampubolon, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 10/27/2010 10:07 AM
The House of Representatives has only passed seven of the 70 bills prioritized on its 2010 agenda.
With 63 bills still left on the legislative table, overseas study trips and absenteeism have overshadowed real productivity.
“The seven bills that have been passed into law are the 2009 state budget report bill, the money laundering bill, the cultural heritage protection bill, the scouts bill, the protocol bill, the horticulture bill and the 2011 state budget bill,” House speaker Marzuki Alie from the Democratic Party said in a written statement presented to the plenary House session on Tuesday.
The cultural heritage protection bill, the scouts bill, the protocol bill, the horticulture bill and the 2011 state budget bill were endorsed during the plenary.
The heritage protection law was a revision of the 1992 law on cultural heritage, Commission X deputy chief Heri Akhmadi said in his report. Among the changes is a stipulation that supports community-based heritage management, Heri said.
Marzuki said that the House was also deliberating nine other priority bills, “including the currency bill and the housing bill”.
Marzuki hoped the government could submit more bills for deliberation.
“Those bills would include the bill on Yogyakarta’s special status, the village bill, the anticorruption bill and the government administration bill,” he said.
The House entered a 25 day recess and will resume sessions on Nov. 21. This year the House has logged 48 working days, or 78 calendar days.
The House has targeted the passage of 247 new laws by 2014.
New House members have been slammed by critics for their poor performance since entering office in October last year. Absenteeism is a major problem for both the public and the House leadership. A plenary session had to be delayed in July to wait until at least half of the total House legislators arrived to meet the mandatory requirements for a quorum.
Legislative work comprised only half of the House’s duties, while the other half entailed monitoring the government and budget implementation, Marzuki said during the plenary session.
He pointed out that during the latest session the House had also completed “fit and proper tests” and approved several public officials, such as the Indonesian Military chief Adm. Agus Suhartono and National Police chief Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo.
The Judiciary Watchdog Coalition criticized the legislators Monday for missing the deadline to select the seven members of the Judicial Commission, the deadline for which is Nov. 9, but the lawmakers will only resume hearings on Nov. 21.
Several anticorruption groups have launched rallies against legislative “study trips”, which activists refer to as “junkets”. The House has also been a frequent target of verbal attacks following a plan to construct 120-square-meter offices for each lawmaker in a new parliament building in Senayan, Central Jakarta, which would also include a swimming pool, spa and a massage center.
