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truggling with rivalry and political maneuvering among factions, the House of Representatives has failed to meet its legislation target this year.

Of 40 bills on this year'€™s national legislation priority (prolegnas) list, it has only passed three laws: The Regional Election Law, the Regional Administration Law and the Credit Insurance Law. The last sitting session closed last week.

Indonesian Parliament Watch (Formappi) called the performance of the House this year '€œthe worst'€ since the fall of Soeharto in 1998.

'€œWe noted that only three laws emerged from 40 prioritized drafts. It means the success rate of the House was only 7.5 percent,'€ said Formappi researcher Abdul Sahid.

Since the current batch of House members was sworn in October last year, the House has been struggling to set up committees and internal bodies amid prolonged battles between pro-government and opposition factions.

Unlike the situation over the past decade, the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which had won the 2014 legislative elections, was denied House leadership due to a revision in the Legislative Institution (MD3) Law that was backed by the opposition.

The rivalry between the two camps also engulfed the leadership appointment process at the People'€™s Consultative Assembly (MPR), in which the pro-government coalition, led by PDI-P, failed to secure leadership.

After a standoff between the House and the government for months, the pro-government camp gradually grew stronger, with the growing influence of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s administration.

In the second half of the year, the House has been effective in proceeding with confirmation hearings for various prominent appointments, including for Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo and National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Sutiyoso.

The government and the House passed the 2016 state budget after the government approved a budget allocation for the construction of a new Rp 740 billion (US$56 million) legislative building.

Formappi criticized the lawmakers for being too focused on matters related to themselves instead of the Indonesian people.

'€œThe House tended to prioritize its own interests with the [state] budget, electoral districts development budget and additional incentives for members,'€ Abdul said.

Abdul also said that lawmakers were overly occupied with many working committees and special inquiry committees, which did not produce concrete results for public welfare.

Another Formappi researcher, M. Djadidjono, said the poor performance of the House was not in line with its budget allocation, which amounted to Rp 5 trillion in the 2015 state budget.

Ronald Rofiandri, a researcher at the Center for Policy and Law Studies (PSHK), meanwhile, attributed the delay of many legislative plans in the 2015 national legislation program to a lack of initiative by lawmakers.

'€œIt is obvious [that there is an inefficient] process, and the quality of legislation is also poor,'€ Ronald told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

According to Ronald, the House has delayed preparing academic papers for required legislation, and the content of legislation often contradicted government policies.

Golkar Party lawmaker Eni Maulani Saragih acknowledged that the House had faced many political turbulences this year, adding that this had decelerated its performance.

But she said the public should not put all the blame for the poor performance on House members, pointing out that the process of making laws also involved the government.

'€œBoth legislative and executive bodies need to agree with the drafts, otherwise we can'€™t follow them up,'€ she said.

PDI-P lawmaker Masinton Pasaribu said a lack of coordination between the House and the government contributed to the House'€™s poor performance.

'€œThe House, has so many things to fix, including the absences in meetings. If many members are absent in important meetings, how can we have the discussion?'€ Masinton asked.

Ronald offered two solutions for the lawmakers to work more productively in 2016.

'€œThey have to work more systematically and be more disciplined. For instance, before offering a draft to be prioritized in prolegnas, they should complete the requirements first,'€ Ronald said.

The other solution he offered was to ensure that the House and the government were on the same page on the idea of legislation'€™s importance.

'€œWe call this legislation politics. Before the House discusses the draft, the government and lawmakers should agree that the draft is important for the people. That will save time,'€ he added. (foy)
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