Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Despite having only a few months left in office, members of the House of Representatives are still committed to passing over one hundred unfinished bills before the end of their term in October, a lawmaker said.
"We'll focus on finishing the draft 2015 state budget 2015 and later we will continue on discussing other priority bills," Deputy House Speaker Pramono Anung said on Monday.
There are currently 106 bills being deliberated at the parliament, comprising 33 priority bills and 73 minor bills which are not included in the national legislation program.
Among those categorized as priority bills are the regional election bill, the halal certification bill, the defense bill and the nursing bill, while the minor bills include 65 bills on the establishment of new autonomous regions as well as four international agreements to be ratified.
"There are four districts that will be formed into a new autonomous region very soon, [and they include] the Central Buton, South Buton, Kota Raha and West Muna districts in Southeast Sulawesi," Pramono said.
The House of Representatives have been heavily criticized for its poor performance in the legislation process throughout their current term, which begun in 2009.
In 2013, the House Legislative Body had targeted to pass a total of 75 bills, but by the end of the year only managed to pass seven, according to JurnalParlemen.com.