Jakarta – Despite the fact that Thursday was the official day for House of Representatives members to resume work after the Idul Fitri holiday, only a few legislators and commission members showed up.
House Speaker Agung Laksono was the only legislator, as far as The Jakarta Post could observe, who came to the House building before 2 p.m.
When asked whether the House had decided to add an extra day to the holiday, Agung said there was no such thing. He also said that he had no idea why there were no activities until late in the afternoon. "I don't know whether there are any commission meetings today as I don't have any official schedule," he said.
"And as for the legislators, probably they are still stuck in the traffic," he joked since Jakarta was still quiet with many residents not yet having returned home from the Idul Fitri exodus.
Earlier in the morning, there was a gathering in the House to celebrate Idul Fitri. House Secretary General Nining Indra Saleh said that legislators were invited to the occasion. However, none of the invited legislators showed up or were apparent during the gathering.
It was only after 3 p.m. that two official House meetings finally took place.
The first meeting was between House Commission VII on Energy and Technology with the State Minister for Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman. Less than half of the legislators on the commission attended the meeting.
Another meeting was a closed hearing between Commission IX and Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari.
A great number of the outgoing legislators were absent despite public criticism towards their lack of productivity in producing quality laws in the last few years.
As of now, it is estimated the House can only produce 178 of its targeted 284 laws by the end of its five-year term, ending this month.
Sebastian Salang from the Indonesian Parliamentary Watchdog said that he was no longer surprised with the legislators' bad attitudes. "What more can we say? I am just speechless," he said.
While there would be no sanction against absent lawmakers, public servants who were absent on their first working day would be punished.
The government had decided Monday and Tuesday as the official Idul Fitri holiday and Wednesday as a collective day off.
The Office of the State Minister for Administrative Reform has instructed managers of government institutions to scrutinize the attendance of their subordinates on Thursday. Civil servants, who were absent without strong reasons, would face a delay in their salary hike and promotion. They may even be demoted from their current positions.
State Minister for Administrative Reform Taufiq Effendi himself carried out impromptu inspections on several offices, including the Jakarta City Hall office, the Financial Minister Office, and state-run Fatmawati Hospital. However, he did not find evidence that there were any absent civil servants in these three offices.
"We can see that most civil servants resumed working today. This is proof of discipline within the civil service," he said.
Also on Thursday, the Office of the State Minister for Administrative Reform announced that state institutions would recruit 325,000 new civil servants this year. Some institutions have began their recruitment process, but most will begin the process next month. (hdt/mrs)