Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The intense criticism over lawmakers' overseas study trips is not a message that people want the jaunts stopped, but that they want a greater say in their planning, according to a legislator.

"For me, the recent criticism is not aimed at pushing us to cancel the study trips," Taufik Kurniawan, a House deputy speaker from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said on Thursday. "The message is that the public should be more involved in our activities."

In response to the critics, Taufik said the House leadership had agreed to allow for more public involvement as early as the planning stage. According to the agreement, the public must be informed of study trips from the planning phase, and then kept informed during the entire process. The results of the excursions must also be made public.

Taufik, however, did not elaborate on how exactly this would be done. "The problem is, as the House leadership, we always push lawmakers to implement this agreement, but sometimes we forget about it," he said.

Democratic Party lawmaker Achsanul Qosasih said people needed to remember that the overseas trips served a number of important purposes, from helping in the drafting of legislation to building goodwill with other countries.

Trips taken by lawmakers inside the country, he added, let legislators supervise the implementation of government programs. "So please, look at the context of the visits before criticizing them," Achsanul said.

He did say, however, that lawmakers and state officials should not take family members along on trips, a practice that has been heavily criticized.

But Uchok Sky Khadafi, from the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency, said that what was needed from the House leadership was a demonstration of its commitment to cut out wasteful trips.

The House speaker and his four deputies spent around Rp 2 billion ($230,000) each on overseas trips in 2010, he said. Their allotment for 2011, he added, has been increased to around Rp 2.9 billion each.

"The House leadership should not just talk but take some action," Uchok said. He also warned that lawmakers needed to pay more attention to the issue before it further eroded the public's confidence in the institution.

Taufik said that lawmakers were setting good examples. He said he had decided to cancel all of his overseas trips funded by the state budget until 2014. "I didn't publicly announce it, but that's what I am doing," he said.