Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The top priorities for the last sitting of the legislature this year are the bills on political parties and on general elections, which are needed to smooth the way to the 2009 polls.

The bills are among 11 targeted for completion by the House of Representatives in the 33-day sitting period, which was officially opened on Monday.

"All factions have agreed to speed up the deliberation of the two (political) bills in the next 33 days so that they can be approved by the end of this month," House Speaker Agung Laksono said in the opening plenary session Monday.

The Justice and Human Rights Ministry is waiting for the bill on the political parties, which will set the new requirements for parties wishing to register officially.

The General Elections Commission (KPU), meanwhile, needs to general elections bill to pass before it can begin verifying parties' eligibility to run in the 2009 legislative election.

The election committee also needs to update the eligible voter list, map electoral districts and verify legislative candidates nominated by eligible political parties.

The parties are still at odds over several issues in the two bills. These include the debate over Pancasila as the parties' single ideology, financial sources of parties and the issue of a quota for female members; electoral and parliamentary thresholds, the electoral system and a quota for women in the list of legislative candidates.

The chairman of the special committee deliberating the bill on political parties, Ganjar Pranowo, ruled out imposing penalties on parties that failed to fulfill a quota of 30 percent female party members and legislative candidates, saying such affirmative action could not be forced.

The current 1999 law disappointed women activists as it failed to contain a mandatory minimum of 30 percent of women in parties fielding legislative candidates.

Agung said further that the House had to conclude three bills needed for the revision of the 2004 Regional Administration Law.

"The House has to work harder and more efficiently to finish the three bills on regional administration, local elections and on development of new regions without ignoring their quality," he said.

While the House has been criticized for being too slow, a number of laws on new regencies and provinces have also been questioned. Many new regencies and provinces are still in poor areas largely dependent on Jakarta.

He said the House was also to complete the deliberation of the remaining six bills to amend those on health, population and family development, narcotics, the judicial commission, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.

So far the House has finished deliberating 82 of 284 bills listed in the 2004-2009 national legislation program.

Chairman of the law commission at the House Trimedya Panjaitan said that the House would also conduct a "fit and proper" test for 10 candidates for the Anti-corruption Commission (KPK) and select constitutional court justices in the next two months.

He said his commission had received the names of candidates for the KPK leadership and that they would undergo the test later this month.