Jakarta – The House of Representatives ended its current assembly period with a plenary session on Friday (29/04), as it goes into recess until May 17 without having passed a single bill.

Draft laws left to be discussed include those on tax amnesty, amendments of the regional election law and counter-terrorism, all of which are considered urgent.

"After the recess, the bills on tax amnesty and regional election law amendments will be discussed. These bills are important, we want the regional elections to run smoothly," House Speaker Ade Komarudin said at the legislative complex in Senayan.

Ade said a working committee tasked with discussing the Tax Amnesty Bill was established on Thursday evening. Nevertheless, he is convinced that the committee will have more than enough time to discuss the bill in the next parliamentary session.

"The committee works quickly. There aren't that many articles to discuss. But the issue is quite complex, so they will take their time," the House speaker said.

Meanwhile, the government and the House have not come to terms on several articles in the regional election amendment proposal – including the requirement of pledged support for independent candidates – which triggered a delay in the deliberation.

Ade said the House's perceived inactivity was a non-issue. "The assembly session only lasted three weeks, there wasn't enough time. We didn't even have enough time to finish the Regional Election Law amendments. We have other things to do as well, apart from passing bills into laws," the Golkar Party lawmaker said.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/house-speaker-things-beside-passing-bills/