House Finally Sets the Legislative Agenda for 2015 ? 2019

 
Christina Desy, Rofiq Hidayat
 
After months of intense discussion, the House of Representatives (“House”) finally issued the 2015 – 2019 National Legislation Program (Program Legislasi Nasional – “Prolegnas”). Over the next four years, the House plans to pass 159 bills, with a priority on 37 bills in 2015.
 
In addition, the House has left room to pass five other types of bills to be prioritized once submitted by the House or the President. These bills are related to international treaties, Constitutional Court decisions, the state budget, establishment of new provinces and regencies/cities, and government regulations in-lieu of laws requiring confirmation.
 
According to Firman Subagyo, Deputy of Legislation Office (Badan Legislasi – “Baleg”), the House was very selective in determining the targets as there is a focus on optimizing performance. As a result, the House has only targeted half of the more than 300 bills that were initially proposed.
 
Furthermore, Mr. Subagyo explained that the 2015 – 2019 Prolegnas was established based on urgency indicators and he admitted the possibility of the legislative agenda changing in time. In this regard, Mr. Subagyo said that Baleg will invite relevant parties from academia, experts, and non-profit organizations to review the suitability of Prolegnas with current needs.
 
“Baleg will also invite the respective initiators of the targeted bills to explain the substance of the draft bills,” said Mr. Subagyo on Tuesday.
 
Sharing Mr. Subagyo’s view, Ronald Rofiandri, Director of Advocacy and Network Monitoring at the Center of Law and Policy Studies (Pusat Studi Hukum dan Kebijakan – PSHK), welcomed the House’s plan to improve in the law-making process. In this regard, Mr. Rofiandri expects the House to maintain consistency in realizing the targeted output.
 
A similar opinion came from Sebastian Salang, Coordinator of Public Forum for Indonesian Parliament (Forum Masyarakat Perduli Parlemen Indonesia – Formappi). In his view, the target for the 2015 – 2019 Prolegnas is realistic and feasible to be accomplished. If the targets can be achieved, Mr. Salang hopes that the House can project a better image to the public, especially in the midst of current difficulties within the House.
 
Bill on Tobacco is prioritized for 2015
One of the prioritized bills for 2015 is the Bill on Tobacco which was carried over from the previous Prolegnas period of 2010 – 2014. According to Mr. Subagyo, this bill is important as it represents the interests of various stakeholders and protects the production of Indonesian tobacco products.
 
Unfortunately, many parties believe this controversial bill should not be included in the first place. Hakim Sorimuda, Head of Medical Support Development at the National Committee for Tobacco Control, strongly objected to its inclusion on the agenda as he believes that Indonesia needs more laws to protect their people and not the tobacco industry.
 
Mr. Sorimuda commented that the draft bill provides more provisions on the production of tobacco products instead of the control on their negative impacts in an environment where the number of smokers is constantly increasing, reaching 17.5 percent in 2010.
 
In addition, Mr. Sorimuda is encouraging the government to provide more comprehensive regulations to control tobacco consumption. The National Committee for Tobacco Control has also submitted an academic paper and its own version of the draft bill on tobacco control. It is hoped that this version of draft bill will counter the provisions under the currently proposed draft bill on tobacco.
 
Sharing Mr. Sorimuda’s concerns, Anshory Siregar, member of Commisson IX of the House, agreed that the House should focus more on bills that prioritize the health of Indonesia’s future generation. In this case, Mr. Siregar is suggesting the House remove the bill on tobacco from its 2015 priority list and put it on the 2016 priority list instead.
 
(hot/kc)