The Indonesian House of Representatives finished 18 (eighteen) priority bills and 4 (four) open cumulative bills throughout 2011, or until the end of the 1st Session of 2011-2012 sitting year, which fell on 28 October 2011.
The statement was made by the Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, DR. Marzuki Alie, during Plenary Session upon opening the 2nd Session of 2011-2012 last Monday, November 14th at Nusantara II Building of DPR.
According to DR. Alie, the bill passing realization is still far from what had been expected. Nevertheless, he added, we should all be thankful that near the end of the 1st Session there were 4 (four) bills which play significant role in the society and national economic development passed by the Parliament. Those four bills include Bill on Legal Aid, Bill on Zakat (Alms) Management, Bill on Financial Service Authority (OJK), and Bill on Social Security Providers (BPJS).
Consequently, Commissions, Legislative Body (Baleg), and Special Committee (Pansus) were encouraged to accelerate the process of passing those bills. Similarly, Commissions or Legislative Body which had proposed a variety of initiative bills to be included in the National Legislative Program (Prolegnas) or the annual priority were also called on to stay committed toward finishing their draft bills and preparing academic texts, with the support of expert staffs of law and inputs from field experts and also members of civil society. “What we might want to do in the future is avoiding law bill materials which are contradictory with the 1945 Constitution,” said DR. Alie in expressing his expectation.
The Speaker further explained that 2012 is the most ideal year for the Indonesian House of Representatives to promote the realization of legislative function. This momentum should be used to realize the mandate of Article 20 of the 1945 Constitution. “I am concerned that the political situation will heat up in mid 2013 with the 2014 General Election coming up, and it surely will affect the performance of the Indonesian House of Representatives. Hopefully the 2nd Session, which only lasts less than a month, at least 5 (five) or 6 (six) bills could enter the Second Reading Stage,” he added.