SBY and Lawmakers Agree on Agenda To Put a Rocket Under Passing Bills

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Ditulis Oleh Camelia Pasandaran, The Jakarta Globe, July 15, 2010   
Kamis, 15 Juli 2010
The government and lawmakers have agreed to speed up the deliberation of bills and focus on a few select pieces of legislation.

“Concerning the legislative program, we have agreed to take steps to accelerate and improve the effectiveness of both deliberation and their completion,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after a meeting with House of Representatives leaders on Wednesday.

He said that the meeting also agreed on the schedule for debating several specific bills.

The House has so far failed to pass even one of the 70 items on its legislative agenda for the year, sparking heavy criticism from the public.

However, House Speaker Marzuki Alie, from the ruling Democratic Party, said he was certain legislators would be able to meet their legislative target and that two days would be set aside each week to deliberate bills.

“There are some who believe that the number of bills that have been targeted by the House and government for completion is too ambitious, 243 for five years and 70 for 2010,” Marzuki said. “However, if we can manage the time well, I’m sure, we’re sure, that the number can still be reached.”

Marzuki said that to help speed up the deliberation of bills, the House had recruited 15 more experts from the Center for Data Analysis and Processing and Information.

“So we will cooperate closely to finish the bills, whether they are initiated by the House or by the government, as it is our obligation,” he said.

Yudhoyono said that during the discussion the government had highlighted the importance of some of the bills in developing the nation.

“One such bill is the land appropriation bill to build infrastructure for public purposes,” Yudhoyono said.

“Unless regulated by law, there will be a lot of problems, such as delays in infrastructure construction and investment, leading to an underdeveloped economy and the weakening of our competitiveness,” he said.

“Therefore we need a law that is fair so the public will not suffer losses but be provided with public facilities that will benefit everyone.”

He said the government had also proposed a bill to regulate forestry-related crimes.

“If we let them happen, illegal logging practices will always be a problem,” Yudhoyono said. “Environmental destruction will happen and the nation, both at the central and regional level, will suffer losses because no revenue is coming in. It is important that this bill be scheduled.”

Yudhoyono also said he expected three other bills to be discussed soon — one on the social safety net, one on the Financial Services Authority and one on Bank Indonesia.

He said the government and the House had agreed to prioritize the passage of these three bills.

“If incidents such as the 2008 banking crisis, the economic crisis and the state financing crisis happen again, the nation must be ready to act with a good legal base,” he said.