Febriamy Hutapea – Members of the corruption-plagued House of Representatives (DPR) have been blasted for their poor performances during their 2004-09 term after managing to pass less than 60 percent of targeted legislation.

Since the legislators were elected in 2004, they have managed to pass only 167 of the 284 bills in the National Legislative Program, or 59 percent of the required legislation.

Over the same period, the House was also rocked by a succession of graft scandals that have highlighted the depth of corruption within the body. It has also been criticized for passing legislation, such as the Anti-Pornography Law, that critics even within the police and judiciary have called unenforceable.

According to a recent study by Transparency International Indonesia, the House is perceived as the most corrupt institution in the land, leading to heat over its failure to enact the Anti-Corruption Court Bill, and its deliberations of the controversial State Secrecy Bill, which critics have compared to Suharto-era attempts to muzzle freedom of speech.

House Speaker Agung Laksono blamed the poor performance of the legislature on time limitations and overlapping responsibilities, saying the reason so many of the newly enacted laws were challenged in court was because of a lack of public input during the drafting process.

Since 2003, there have been 154 requests for judicial reviews filed in the Constitutional Court against House legislation, not including the recent suits against the Legislative Election Law and the ongoing case involving the Anti-Pornography Law, which have both been challenged as unconstitutional.

The reviews had, in many cases, been sought because the regulations were believed by some to have violated the 1945 Constitution.

Agung said he hoped the next crop of legislators would not only focus on passing legislation in a timely fashion, but also produce laws that benefited the majority of the people.

Sebastian Salang, the coordinator of the Forum of Citizens Concerned About the Indonesian Legislature (Formappi), said the lawmakers had performed poorly because they were occupied with political maneuvering.

He said the House had failed to focus on improving the quality of bills or enacting targeted legislation, such as bills allowing for the creation of new regions or the law banning pornography.

But the legislative performance wasn't all bad, Sebastian said, citing the Political Parties Law, the Legislative Election Law and the Presidential Election Law – all passed in 2008 – as being good examples of attempts to strengthen the country's democracy.

He said other House successes included the Citizenship Law, the Anti-Discrimination Law, and the Law on Freedom of Public Information.

Agung said the House would prioritize the completion of bills that are currently in the deliberation process during the remainder of the term, particularly the Anti-Corruption Court Bill.