Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Although the legislative elections are barely a year away, the House of Representatives has been virtually deserted as lawmakers abandon Senayan in favor of reelection planning.
For example, on Tuesday, the plenary meeting to endorse the appointment of Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo as Bank Indonesia governor was attended by less than half of the House's 560 lawmakers.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the 45 lawmakers on House Commission VI overseeing state-owned enterprises was cancelled on Thursday for poor attendance.
Commission VI deputy chairman Aria Bima said that lawmakers had to go to the General Election Commission (KPU) to submit reelection paperwork. "Only 12 lawmakers were present. It's best to cancel the meeting," Bima, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker, said.
A Commission VI meeting held earlier in the day had even worse attendance: Only eight lawmakers turned up for a hearing with executives from state-owned salt company PT Garam and salt farmers from Madura, East Java.
On Wednesday, only five of 14 lawmakers on the House special committee overseeing a bill on local government appeared at a scheduled meeting.
Lawmakers have remained truant despite previous statements from House Speaker Marzuki Alie decrying the absences as "humiliating" and the installation of a Rp 279 million (US$29,000) fingerprint scanner system to shame lawmakers into attending House plenary meetings.
As absences continue to mount, the House secretariat-general has arranged fewer and fewer meetings in the face of the lawmakers' stated plans to enact 70 bills into law by the end of the current legislative session.
Marzuki said that it was unlikely that the House would even pass the 16 bills targeted before the next legislative recess began on April 12.
"I am deeply concerned. But I don't know what to do because I don't have the authority to force lawmakers to come to meetings. I could fire all lazy lawmakers if I had the authority.
The speaker was phlegmatic. "It is up to the ethics council and individual parties." He urged the council to punish truant lawmakers, especially those who left the House after registering their attendance or who had assistants sign in for them.
Ethics council deputy chairman Siswono Yudohusodo said that the body would crack down on errant lawmakers. Siswono said that the council would make it mandatory for lawmakers to give priority to House sessions and to travel out of town only during the weekends.
"We are worried that more lawmakers are now focusing more on their electoral districts than working for the House," Siswono said. "We have asked parties to limit out-of-town travel to after Thursdays because weekdays are for House's meetings," Siswono said. It is unclear if Siswono's proposal will have any teeth.
House deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said in 2010 that members of the House were forbidden from making domestic or international working visits on Mondays and Tuesdays. "Working visits can only be done from Thursday to Sunday," he said as quoted by kompas.com.