Asia Times: Indonesia's politicians put play before work


	March 23, 2002	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Indonesia's politicians put play before work
By Richel Langit

JAKARTA - Indonesia's 500 legislators recorded distinguished success on virtually all fronts in the first three months of 2002 except in their main duty - drafting and deliberating bills badly needed to overhaul the country's economic and political landscape.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung announced at the outset of the current session on January 7 that members of the House of Representatives (DPR) were determined to make up for their lackluster performance in 2001 by completing deliberations on 24 bills before the session ends next Thursday. But with only six days left before they go into recess, the legislators have so far endorsed only two less important laws, because of politicking and political rivalries as well as their own severe lack of discipline.

Ever since Tandjung, who is also chairman of the Golkar party, the second-biggest faction in the House with 120 members, was implicated in a high-profile corruption scandal late last year, legislators have been busy debating whether or not the House should set up an independent inquiry team to investigate the allegations of corruption against him - so much so that they had little time to deliberate on urgent bills.

Golkar legislators, who have always tried to prevent the House inquiry team out of fear that it would humiliate the party's chairman and endanger the very existence of the party, have been busy convincing fellow lawmakers that Tandjung's corruption case be handled by the Attorney General's Office. On the other hand, Golkar's opponents, notably the National Awakening Party (PKB), a political party founded by ousted former president Abdurrahman Wahid, have insisted investigations by the Attorney General's Office should be complemented with a House investigation since Tandjung, as the House Speaker, is holding a public and political position.

Other big political parties, notably President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the biggest faction in the House with 153 representatives, and Vice President Hamzah Haz's Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP) as well as People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais's National Mandate Party (PAN), have regulary shifted their allegiances depending on the occasion in order to maximize their short-termed political interests.

Consequently, all legislators in the House were so busy exploiting Tandjung's corruption allegation for maximum benefits for their respective parties that they have neglected their main task - that is deliberating bills scheduled for approval this session. The failure will have severe negative impacts on the deliberation of other bills scheduled for the next session, which means further delaying the overhauling of the country's economic and political life. The DPR leadership has vowed to endorse a total of 80 bills in 2002.

Of the 24 bills scheduled for approval this session, two are of paramount importance and those are bills on money-laundering and on a corruption eradication commission. The legislators have yet to start deliberating the two bills which were submitted by the government in 2001. The problem is that international donor countries and funding agencies have tied their much-needed financial assistance to the enactment of those very bills. Donor countries belonging to the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had openly stated earlier that they would not disburse their pledges unless the Indonesian government passes into laws the bills. CGI and ADB have pledged US$3.14 billion and $600 million respectively in financial assistance for the current fiscal year ending December 31.

A delay in the disbursement of the funds would severely affect the country's budget deficit, which it is estimated will reach 2.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product this year. More than that, the delay would also deprive Indonesia of the financial assistance needed to jumpstart the country's ailing economy.

Donor countries grouped in the Paris Club have also placed the enactment of money-laundering bill as a prerequisite for them to consider Indonesia's proposal for the possible rescheduling of debt maturing in 2002 and 2003, which is believed will reach more than $5 billion (both principal and interest). Paris Club member countries are scheduled to meet in Paris in April to discuss Indonesia's proposal. A failure to secure a deal may force Indonesia to spend much of its budget on servicing the foreign debt which now stand at $138 billion, half of which belongs to the government.

Other important bills that were scheduled for deliberation in the current session include bills on political parties, the election system and on the composition of the House and the MPR, the country's top legislative body. A delay in the deliberations of those bills will affect the preparations for the next general elections scheduled in 2004. Additional bills that have been left waiting to be passed include a bill to guarantee the free flow of information and another on state secrecy, which has been the subject of some controversy lately, and concern subjects on bank credits and child protection.

In comparison, former president B J Habibie, who dropped his presidential bid after MPR members voted to reject his accountability speech in the 1999 presidential election, signed into law 64 bills in his 16-month leadership from May 1998 through September 1999.

Almost immediately after Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, was elected president in October 1999, more than 100 bills were submitted to the House, including those drafted by lawmakers themselves, but due to politicking and political rivalry the legislators were able to complete deliberations on several bills only. The House, in practice, stopped deliberating bills when they started investigating Gus Dur's corruption allegation which led to the Muslim cleric's downfall from the presidential post in 2001.

But even after Gus Dur's impeachment and Megawati's ascension to the presidential post last July, the House could only pass a number of less urgent bills as most political parties were busy skirting around the newly installed Megawati seeking key positions.

And so, when Tandjung announced early this year that the House was determined to boost its performance, many analysts expressed optimism that the lawmakers were finally doing their duty. But soon, the deliberations of those bills were overshadowed by Tandjung's own corruption case. He has been declared a suspect in a Rp54.6 billion financial scandal ($5.4 million) involving State Logistics Agency (Bulog). He has been detained by the Attorney General's Office since March 7 and is scheduled to stand trial on Monday.

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