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House, govt to deliberate sexual violence bill after recess: Puan
Puan’s statement came as lawmakers enter a three-week recess period from Saturday until March 14, which would potentially further prolong the start of the deliberation of the bill.
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Power of women: Activists from various women’s organizations unfurl a banner during a rally in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Dec. 10 to commemorate International Human Rights Day and demand the passage of the sexual violence eradication bill. (Antara/Basri Marzuki)
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he House of Representatives has yet to receive an official letter from the government to kick start the deliberation process for the sexual violence bill, House speaker Puan Maharani has said, despite earlier claims that the government had sent the letter.
Puan’s statement came as lawmakers entered a three-week recess period from Saturday until March 14, which could potentially further prolong the start of the deliberation of the bill.
“As of today, the House has yet to receive an official letter from the government. We are waiting for the government’s letter,” Puan, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician, said on Friday.
“Because the sitting session has already been closed, we will wait [to deliberate the bill] in the next session.”
At the start of the deliberation process of any bill, the government, in this case President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, usually sends an official letter to the House notifying lawmakers of the assigned government representative to deliberate the bill. Once the House has received the letter it assigns a specific body or commission to discuss the bill with its government counterpart.
The House speaker’s statement contradicted earlier claims by House Legislative Body (Baleg) deputy chairman Willy Aditya, who claimed that the House’s leadership had agreed to allow lawmakers and the government to deliberate the bill during the recess period.
“The House speaker has agreed to allow [the deliberation process of the sexual violence bill] during recess, but it will have to wait until after the speaker hands over the DIM [to Baleg],” Willy, who is also a NasDem politician, said on Wednesday, referring to the technical term for the inventory list of problems with a bill.
