Jakarta – The House of Representatives has failed to deliberate 23 bills on the agenda for this year.

The bills included those on microfinance institutions and the authority of financial institutions, as well as revisions to the 2003 law on the Constitutional Court and the 2004 law on the Judicial Commission. According to House speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, the unfinished drafts were in the final stages of legislation. "The hammer is just waiting to be dropped," Priyo said.

He added the delays were partly caused by deadlocks within the government relating to legal issues with certain articles. "We had to dig deeper into the substance of several laws," he said, adding that legislators refused to sign off on the drafts just to "meet the target".

In addition to the 23 bills, the government plans to pass 47 other draft bills during next year's national legislation program. The 70 total bills are one less than originally planned, after the House decided to drop the revision of the 2003 law on labor from the list. (gzl)