Camelia Pasandaran – An Indonesian politician has responded to allegations that poor quality laws passed by lawmakers were due to corruption and vested interests by admitting the claims are partly true.

Eva Kusuma Sundari, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday that shoddy laws were due to "article trading" and the poor quality of Indonesia's elected representatives.

"[Poor quality laws] are the result of a combination of factors: the small amount of article trading that might exist; and mainly the poor quality of the lawmakers," said Eva, who sits on House Commission III that overseas legal affairs.

Eva said, however, that it was unfair just to blame legislators, saying draft legislation was prepared by both the House and the government. "So why only blame the House," she asked rhetorically.

The House of Representatives (DPR) has been roundly criticized for failing to pass legislation in a timely fashion, and when it does enact new laws they are often regarded as poorly constructed. The phenomenon has seen a number of laws challenged in the Constitutional Court, which has resulted in many of the laws being overturned.

Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD, speaking on Tuesday morning, said the number of legal challenges to legislation passed by the House was the result of corruption.

Speaking during a seminar on national legal reform, Mahfud said people "could buy" to have articles inserted or removed from the law. "So, the laws passed are based on personal interests, instead of the public interest," he was quoted by Vivanews.com as saying.

He said that of 406 judicial reviews filed in the court between 2003 and November, 2011, 97 were found to be unconstitutional and overturned.

The DPR is perceived to be one of Indonesia's most corrupt and under-performing institutions.