Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – After a year of political drama and bickering, members of the House of Representatives have proven that their voices speak louder than action after passing less than half of the bills targeted this year.

Many critical bills failed to meet the deadline due to protracted disagreements, either between parties in the House or with the government.

One of the most important bills not passed wasthe Financial Services Authority (OJK) bill, which would revise the Bank Indonesia law that stipulated that the OJK be established this year.

On Thursday, a day before the legislation period goes into recess, parties at the House could only reach an agreement to deliberate five bills next year. This means the political parties law, passed on Thursday, was the last piece of legislation for the year.

Arbi Sanit from the University of Indonesia criticized legislators for wasting too much time on tasks other not related to their legislative duties, including the protracted inquiry into the Bank Century bailout that cost Rp 5 billion (US$555,000).

"Certain parties in the House looked set to use the controversy around the bailout as political leverage against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to gain power in the executive body," he said.

By the end of the year, the House was also under fire for financing foreign trips for certain commissions and working committees for various purposes, including comparative studies, haj pilgrimage supervision and inter-parliamentary ties, all while the country was rocked by natural disasters that claimed hundreds of lives.

"The results of the trips have never been revealed and business goes on as usual," Arbi said.

The House allocated Rp 173.4 billion in its legislative budget this year and finished the year passing only 15 bills into law, carrying over another 55 bills into next year.

Legislators also managed to convince the government to expand the legislative buildings in Senayan, Central Jakarta, and alloted Rp 250 billion of state budget for its early funding, but failed to pass the housing and settlement bill that would have become the groundwork for the expansion of public housing programs.

"This year, we failed to achieve our goal because we have been involved in unnecessary political bickering," Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie said during his party's year-end meeting on Thursday.

After Golkar legislators spearheaded the Century inquiry this year, he urged legislators to discuss the essence of each bill for the sake of public welfare without being distracted by other issues he said were spread to increase distrust.

During the meeting, Golkar, the Democratic Party's main ally in the ruling coalition, also identified the bills that would cause political tension next year.

"We've identified at least five bills that will divide the House. Three of the bills are related to the general elections in 2014, one bill is on Yogyakarta's special status and another bill covers village administration," the chairman of Golkar in the House, Setya Novanto, said Thursday. (rch)