Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Of a total of 51 commission members, only eight attended a hearing with the National Commission on Human Rights and the Witness and Victim Protection Agency.
The meeting on Friday at the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs and laws, human rights and security, discussed budget issues.
A similar view was also heard at the commission's meeting room, where only 12 legislators were present during a hearing with Attorney General Basrief Arief the day before.
Eight legislators attended a hearing with the National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo in the afternoon and only four stayed for an evening session with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK).
Lawmakers' declining professionalism has raised concerns from the House's Ethics Council, which called on House factions to discipline their members for not attending meetings.
"Factions are authorized [by respective political parties] to discipline their members. Therefore, we hope that they will require their lawmakers to abide by working hours at the House," Ethics Council chief M. Prakosa said on Friday.
Surprisingly, the House's Speaker Marzuki Alie defended lawmakers' bad attitude, saying they did not have to attend every meeting.
"It's okay for lawmakers to skip some sessions such as discussions or hearings because they will get updated later [by their assistant]. But, they are not allowed to skip House sessions," Marzuki said.
He said that leaders of all commissions at the House should arrange schedules to give lawmakers a chance to attend meeting.
"The poor attendance at Commission III was apparently because many legislators were leaving for France to collect input for revisions in the law. The leaders should have arranged the schedules prior to the trip to avoid too many legislators skipping sessions," Marzuki said.
Nevertheless, Marzuki said he had no power to force fellow lawmakers to be disciplined.
"I am troubled with this bad habit, but I don't have the authority to force lawmakers to regularly come to work or to be punctual because I am not their superior, therefore I don't have the authority to force them to regularly come to work," he said.
It has become public knowledge that lawmakers often skip House meetings, despite having their signatures in the attendance list. To stop such habits, the House leadership has intended to buy fingerprint scanners worth around Rp 300 million (US$33,000) to ensure lawmakers' attendance.
"Lawmakers will be no longer be able to ask their secretaries or staffs to sign the attendance list on their behalf, just as some have been doing. Instead, they must come to work because the scanners will require their fingerprints," he said.