Editorial: Legislative System in Need of Overhaul
The House of Representatives has never been synonymous with hard work and performance but the admission on Thursday by deputy speaker Agus Hermanto that Indonesia's top legislative body has only passed four laws, three of which were emergency regulations that had to be deliberated swiftly, in almost a year is both alarming and ridiculous.
Agus conceded that the House will likely miss the target of 37 laws passed by the end of the year and announced that it is doing something about it.
One change to be made is the number of days lawmakers spent outside of their office in the so-called recess periods from 30 days to "two or three weeks." Lawmakers are already given five recess periods a year, which means they get "only" 70 to 105 days a year instead of 150 days.
This is discounting the fact that the House has a low attendance record on the days that lawmakers are supposed to be attending hearings and deliberation sessions.
Pundits and activists have pointed out that since they were inaugurated last October, our legislators have spent more time fighting over strategic House posts or dealing with the splits affecting two major parties than they have on their main job. Or they've been trying to modify rules and regulations for the upcoming simultaneous regional elections to suit their needs.
But lawmakers have also been busy getting the government to approve a Rp 11.2 trillion ($800 million) pork barrel scheme in June and more recently to push for renovation and construction projects inside the House complex to provide lawmakers with more facilities.
The low number of laws passed is nothing new. Pundits have noted that even when lawmakers do pass a bill into law, part of that law are usually deemed "unconstitutional" by Constitutional Court, which says a lot about the quality of the legislation produced.
It takes more reducing recess periods or forcing lawmakers to do nothing but deliberate bills every Wednesdays and Thursdays to solve these problems. It will take on overhaul of the system we use to elect our representatives and to hold them accountable.
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