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Lawmakers end five-year term marked by rushed deliberations
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Lawmakers attend a House of Representatives plenary session on Sept. 19, 2024, at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta. (Antara/Dhemas Reviyanto)
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awmakers concluded their final day in office with a plenary meeting on Monday, marking the end of a five-year term that critics say was marred by a recurring pattern of rushed deliberations and a lack of meaningful public participation.
In her speech in the plenary session, House Speaker Puan Maharani of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said that lawmakers over the past five years had passed a total of 225 pieces of legislation into law, including 48 bills included in the list of priority legislation (Prolegnas).
“In carrying out its legislative function, the House of Representatives has undergone a transformation to meet the country’s legislative needs, including by formulating a law using the omnibus method,” Puan said.
She was referring to the controversial Job Creation Law, which was passed in 2020 but declared conditionally unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court just a year later.
Puan also said that lawmakers held a total of over 3,000 working meetings with the government and other public institutions throughout the past five years.
“[These meetings] served as a checks-and-balances function on how the government and state institutions implement laws and perform their duties,” Puan said.
But she also acknowledged lawmakers' shortcomings, saying that the House had not been able to fulfill all its duties “perfectly”.
