LIPI Scholar: Too Many Distractions at House, Not Enough Professionalism
Jakarta. The low level of professionalism that many lawmakers exhibit is keeping the House of Representatives from meeting its annual target of laws passed, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) senior political researcher Siti Zuhro said on Tuesday.
“Discussion of bills, both in the Working Committee and the Special Committee, is often deadlocked. This is especially the case when the bills under discussion directly impinge on the lawmakers’ interests,” Siti said.
Siti criticized the performance of the current House, which has only passed three bills in the past six months. The 2015-19 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas), meanwhile, aims for the House to pass 160 bills.
Apart from the challenges with regard to lawmaking skills, Siti said, legislators are often distracted by the many House activities that they must attend to: “This means they don’t prioritize completing the bills.”
Siti, calling on the House to be “more realistic,” said the Prolegnas realization gap should not exceed 15 percent. “The House is being fanciful if it thinks it can complete up to 160 bills,” the scholar said.
“The current House should learn from past experiences when it comes to lawmaking,” Siti said. “Performance must be measurable, concrete and visible to the people.”
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