Agus Triyono – A legal and policy watchdog has said that 2011 marked a low point in productivity for the House of Representatives as the body passed just 21 out of 93 pieces of legislation on the docket.

In addition, the Concerned Citizens for the Indonesian Legislature (Formappi) said, all 21 laws passed this year actually already had been deliberated the year before.

"Not only in terms of productivity; the quality of the laws passed is also appalling," Formappi coordinator Sebastian Salang said on Thursday. "So many laws have been passed by the House, only to be challenged and revised by the Constitutional Court."

He added that the sluggish progress was especially troubling considering the amount of money that was earmarked for the House this year.

The House spent Rp 6.2 billion ($682,000) in 2011, or Rp 600 million more than last year's budget allotted. The fund does not include money spent on overseas study trips, which he said could cost up to Rp 10 billion per bill discussed by lawmakers.

"The House must remember that back in 1999, the House only spent Rp 300 million and passed laws of much higher quality than those passed today," he said before adding: "Why is the opposite happening now?"

Formappi is also questioning the many lawmakers who were conspicuously absent during deliberations and plenary sessions this year.

On Aug. 17, House Speaker Marzuki Alie said only 384 out of 560 lawmakers, or 69 percent, attended the plenary session, which opened the 2011-12 sitting period. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also presented the state budget in that session. Last month, only 280 of the 560 members of the House attended the first day of its new session.

Shortly after opening the session at 9:45 a.m., House leaders had to suspend proceedings because only 50 lawmakers had arrived. When they reopened the session an hour later, there were still not enough lawmakers to constitute a quorum.

The appalling record compelled Marzuki to monitor attendance with an electronic fingerprint machine. Some lawmakers objected to the idea, saying they were "not schoolchildren whose attendance should be monitored."

Currently, lawmakers are obliged to manually sign an attendance sheet, but occasionally House members will leave the meeting room after signing in. To improve attendance levels, the House has been providing lawmakers with "attendance money."

Sebastian said the poor attendance record was to blame for the low quality and quantity of the laws passed this year. Marzuki, he said, has demonstrated poor leadership by failing to set a good example for other lawmakers.

"In 2011, the House speaker made numerous blunders in his many controversial remarks. This is damaging the House's reputation and good image and he is not setting a good example," he said. "That's why we see so many controversial statements from the House."