Camelia Pasandaran – The Constitutional Court chief suggested on Tuesday that vanity was the driving force behind many of the laws produced by ministers, and that this was the reason for the often confusing and overlapping regulations in the country.
"Laws that overlap, I believe, are caused by ministers who are just vain," Mahfud MD said. "They think that just because they are ministers, they have to produce new laws, and if a law exists, it needs to be changed. They are issuing laws to show everybody they are ministers."
He added that the problem was causing a major headache for the House of Representatives. "A huge pile of bills are just lying around at the House waiting to be deliberated... with no clear urgency," Mahfud said.
According to Constitutional Court records, there have been 296 judicial review requests for 108 separate laws as of the end of last year, with the Elections Law topping the list for the most review requests. Of the reviews requested, 58 have been approved by the court, Mahfud said.
Several existing and proposed pieces of legislation have caused controversy recently, including a regulation on wiretapping and another on online content, which would give the government the authority to order Internet service providers to block sites it felt displayed material prohibited by law. Also causing controversy is a marriage bill, which calls for jail time and fines for couples who do not register their marriages.
"It is, however, much more vain when... [ministers] begin to draft bills that contradict not only existing regulations but also the Constitution," Mahfud said.
His statements come after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned ministers to exercise caution when discussing potentially controversial legislation, following heavy criticism in the media of a number of different government initiatives in recent weeks.
"They only think about completing the deliberations and issuing laws on time," Mahfud said. "A main reason why the Constitutional Court annuls laws is because these laws are produced not from need but from political deals."
He said he was speaking from experience as a former head of legislation at the House, where he saw how ministers would try to issue regulations without receiving permission from the House.
Political compromises aside, Mahfud said the House was unable to seriously examine the contents of most bills, and this sometimes led to articles contradicting each other within the same piece of legislation.
When asked to comment on the often sharp criticism of the government in the media, Mahfud said the media was absolutely within its rights.
"The legislature, the judiciary and the executive body are all sick," he said. "Civil society and the media are correct and in the right. During the era of [former President] Suharto, matters were strictly regulated and reflected his authoritarian rule. This should not happen again. If I'm wrong, you should attack [me]."
Arif Wibowo, a member of the House Legislation Council from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said some of what Mahfud said was true.
"House deliberations [of bills] are too short since time slots are limited," Arif said. "There should be clear criteria on the urgency of a bill and its deliberation."