Anita Rachman & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Paying for sex and gambling may already be illegal, but lawmakers supposedly need reminding with a souped-up code of ethics.

The House Ethics Council unveiled on Wednesday a proposal for a new code for its members, consisting of a number of articles dealing specifically with integrity, objectivity, accountability, transparency, leadership, honesty, discipline and prioritizing the public interest.

"Members of the House of Representatives are banned from going to places considered to be ethically, morally, religiously and normatively improper, such as brothels and casinos, except for when carrying out their duties as legislators," said Nudirman Munir, deputy chairman of the Ethics Council, as he read the proposal at Wednesday's plenary session.

Although it was not that the council had received reports of lawmakers behaving badly, the Golkar Party member explained. "We just don't want this to happen," he added.

The draft code also proposed that lawmakers be banned from saying or doing things in public deemed improper, both inside and outside the House building, Nudirman added.

The code will also require lawmakers put the public's interest before their own, meaning skipping plenary sessions and other meetings at the House six times in a row without proper reasons would be considered a violation.

Nudirman said violators would be sanctioned in accordance with House rules. "They could be given warnings or worse, dismissed from the House," he said. "We have made significant improvements. The substance of the new code of ethics is incredible."

Governmental watchdogs, however, argue that the proposed code is in fact weaker than the current one, particularly in terms of regulating the gifts that lawmakers can receive.

According to the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), the current code not only bans lawmakers from receiving gifts or junkets from working partners, which refers to government agencies, private companies, organizations and individuals, but banned lawmakers from receiving gifts from all parties. The proposed code, Fitra said, only retained the ban on gifts from working partners.

"So what if a lawmaker receives a gift, which officially has no relation with his commission's oversight, but he still uses his influence as lawmaker to help the gift giver?" said Uchok Sky Khadafi, a coordinator at Fitra.

The proposed code also drops an article banning lawmakers from holding two official positions at the same time, as well as an article banning a lawmaker from misusing his office for the business interests of his family. "At the very least, these articles must be retained," Uchok said.

Nudirman, however, denied that the proposed code was weaker than the current one, and said he believed it covered everything it needed to. "For us, the new draft will fill many holes in the old regulation," he said.

Gayus Lumbuun, the former head of the Ethics Council who was controversially removed after an internal dispute, also criticized the proposal, pointing out that there was no need to explicitly ban prostitution and gambling.

"If it is against the law, then it must be against ethics," the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker said.

Politicians from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and People's Conscience Party (Hanura) also rejected the proposal, saying they would boycott implementing the code because they are not represented in the Ethics Council.