Tere, the Political Idealist

Political parties have been recruiting public figures especially artists to join them for many decades.

For example former Miss Indonesia Angelina Sondakh (Angie) and singer Theresia Pardede (Tere) who were recruited to join President SBY's Democrat Party, and elected as members of the House of Representatives for the term 2009-2014.

This kind of deal brings a win-win benefit for the artists and the political party. On the one hand, the artist got a chance to have a career as a states-person, therefore they can get lots of money. On the other hand the political party can expect to easily get more popular votes during elections.

The fact that politicians always been reluctant to release their public offices although the Police have named them as suspects in crime, have made me believe that those artists really enjoy their political status and would not want to release it.

           
But now I realized that my above assumption is wrong, that is after Tere (32) told the media last Friday that on 21 May 2012 she has resigned from the House of Representatives and the Democrat Party.

She was quoted as saying that she wants to take care of her father who is suffering heart illness. She is also very sad that Corruption still exist although political Reform (Reformasi) has been carried out 14 years ago.
And as a person who took part in the 1998 students demonstration to support Reformasi, she felt very sad that she cannot do anything to improve all that in her position as member of the House of Representatives.

I really respect Tere's decision to resign from political life, and hope that other artist-turned-politician would follow her path and give lesson to political parties i.e never forget that the main goal of Reformasi is to eliminate Corruption in Indonesia.

Photo : Courtesy of Tempo.

Nepotism in Banten

The Province of Banten, formerly part of West Java Province, was established in the year 2,000 and have its own governor, government and regional Houses of Representatives.

The current Governor of Banten, Ratu Atut Chosiyah (49) of the Golkar Party, was elected on January 2007. Previously, she was Acting Governor (2006-2007) and Vice Governor (2002-2006).

According to Kompas newspaper, many members of Ratu Atut's family held various government offices in the province, and also members of regional and central parliaments.

Her husband and son are members of the national House of Representatives in Jakarta, her sister is the Vice Regent of Serang, her step mother is Vice Regent of Pandeglang, sister in-law is Mayor of South Tangerang, her daughter-in-law, step-mother and brother-in-law are members of the Banten House of Representatives, her step-brother is the Mayor of the Province's capital city of Serang.

Nepotism also occur in Lebak Regency whereby two daughters of Regent Mulyadi Jayabaya are members of the national House of Representatives, and his two brothers are members of the regional House of Representatives.

In Tangerang Regency, the son of Regent Ismet Iskandar is a member of national Houses of Representatives and his daughter is a member of local House of Representatives.

Liberal democracy adopted by Indonesia since May 1998 allow every citizens to hold public offices provided that he or she meet all requirements set forth by the laws and regulations, supported by the majority of people, and capable of doing the jobs properly and legally.

However, in order to avoid any conspiracy among public officers, I hope that family relationship among public officers can be avoided or at least minimized in the future. For which purpose the election law and regulation should be amended accordingly.

Nazaruddin is Not a Hero

One thing I like about today's celebration of Independence Day is that most of the mass media are not reporting about the Nazaruddin case for the time being.

This is good for me because I am beginning to be bored at the behaviors of politicians who tried to build public opinion as if Nazaruddin is a  hero and the law enforcement agency, especially the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is evil.

While actually KPK has named Nazaruddin as Suspect in corruption cases including the misuse of fund for development of athlete building in Palembang, South Sumatera, who ran away to other countries, and was caught by the Interpol in Columbia. who later on hand him over to our law enforcement agencies.

First there was the lawyer OC Kaligis who was very angry because he failed to get asylum for Nazaruddin in Colombia therefore he should be returned to Indonesia. Besides, O.C Kaligis was also angry because he was not allowed to accompany Nazaruddin during the flight from Colombia to Jakarta.

I can understand why he is angry because as a lawyer he has been paid to do his very best to defend his client, but to advise him to take asylum in Colombia (and evade Indonesian laws) ?
However, I agree that Nazaruddin should be accompanied by a lawyer during the 38 hours flight.

Then there was the members of the House of Representatives who forcefully entered the Mobile Brigade Headquarters where Nazaruddin is detained.even though not during visiting hours.
Due his his status a member of the House of Representatives has not been revoked, other member may visit him, but should honor the regulation at the place of detention.

Then there was those politicians who demand that Nazaruddin should be protected by the Witness and Victim Protection Institution, which is unreasonable because Nazaruddin is neither a Witness nor a Victim, but a Suspect. 

Considering the above, I hope that KPK would always treat Nazaruddin according to the laws and regulations.

What's Wrong with the Constitutional Court ?

I used to think that the Constitutional Court is the only state institution that can be relied by the people of Indonesia today.

The Court has made several breakthrough on legal matters which other law institutions in the country seems to be helpless, such as public broadcasting of secret phone conversations between Anggodo Widjojo, who was alleged of bribery and certain high ranking officials of the law enforcement agencies.

Many people have high hopes, that some of them want the Court's Chief i.e. Mahfud MD to run as candidate in the 2014 Presidential election.
 
Lately, the mass media reported about the falsification of a letter issued by the Constitutional Court regarding who's eligible to represent a region in South Sulawesi at the House of Representatives

The Chief of the Constitutional Court Mahfud MD alleged that the former member of the General Elections Committee  i.e. Andi Nurpati, currently Spokesperson of President SBY's ruling Democrat Party was involved in the said falsification. He also alleged that former Judge of the said Court i.e. Arsyad Sanusi was also involved in this case.

These allegations were denied by Andi Nurpati, her Party, and Arsyad Sanusi.

Arsyad even strike back by saying the this case is caused by the disorder in the administration of the Court, caused by Mahfud's lack of experience in working with the Court.

Meanwhile, The Jakarta Globe reported that on 21 June the House of Representatives has amended the Constitutional Court Law No. 24/2003 (here) that will significantly curtail the Court's authorities, including a restriction on issuing verdicts beyond what has been requested of it.

The Jakarta Post reported that the Court should limit its verdicts to declaring whether laws or articles ran counter to the Constitution, he added, and refrain from recommending alternative legislation.  It's Chief and Deputy Chief's office term would be reduced to two years and six months, from three years. And it's Judges must have an undergraduate degree in Law.

I hope that this case would be investigated thoroughly and those responsible to be processed in Court, so that the image of the Constitutional Court can still be maintained.

Indonesia & Singapore Extradition Treaty

I thought that Singapore would never want to sign an extradition treaty with Indonesia because it has enjoyed receiving lots of money brought by bad guys who ran away from Indonesia.

That's why I was very surprised when The Jakarta Globe reported that Indonesia and Singapore have already signed an Extradition Treaty and a Defense Cooperation Agreement on 27 April 2007 in Bali, witnessed by President SBY and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

A diplomat at the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta was quoted as saying that his country remains fully committed to the treaty and agreement and look forward to their ratifications by Indonesia.

The Indonesian House of Representatives refused to ratify the extradition treaty and defense agreement because of a clause that would allow Singapore to conduct military exercises in the island of Sumatra. 

Considering the above, I could understand the House of Representatives' refusal to ratify the Extradition Treaty. One thing that I could not understand is why our government agreed to give Singapore military training facility on our country's soil without any consultation with the House of Representatives ?

The Currency Law

On  31 May 2011, the House of Representatives has enacted the Currency Law.

According to Hukum Online, this Law's Article 21 (1) stipulated that business transactions carried out within the territory of the Republic of Indonesia should use the Rupiah currency. And Article 33 stipulated that violation of this Law would be a Crime that can be punished with a maximum fine of Rp 200 Million, or one year imprisonment.

However, Article 21(2) stipulated that the obligation to use Rupiah does not apply to transactions within the framework of the implementation of state budget revenues and expenditures, receipts or grants from or to foreign countries; international trade transactions; deposits in banks in the form of foreign exchange, or transactions international payments.

Some Lawyers have protested against this new Law, saying that the Lawyer profession has a trans-border scope of activities therefore it is very likely they would use foreign currency. 

According to Infobanknews  this Law will be valid starting 17 August 2014.

Considering that we still have more than two years before the new Law becomes valid, any businesses that used foreign currencies, including Lawyers etc, should prepare adapting themselves with this new Law. 

Communist and Heroes Cemetery

(Ret) Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Heru Atmodjo has been declared as an Independence Fighter by the Indonesian government, so when he died last January, he was buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery.

However, on 27 March his grave was silently removed to another cemetery.

MetroTV quoted the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Admiral Agus Suhartono as saying that the grave was removed because Heru Atmodjo was not eligible to be buried at the Heroes Cemetery. However  he refused to explain what was the reason for the removal..

The most possible reason was because some people in Surabaya, East Java, have alleged that he was part of the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) therefore they demanded the removal.
 
According to VivaNews, Heru Atmodjo was the Assistant Director of the Air Force Intelligence Agency when the PKI rebelled on 30 September 1965, and he was accused of participating in the rebellion.
Because of this reason, the Military Extraordinary Tribunal (Mahmilub) has sentenced him to life in jail but later on they reduced it to 15 years in jail.

One of those who accused Heru Atmodjo a Communist was Prof.Dr. Coen Holtzappel, a researcher at the Leiden University, Netherlands, who said that the 1965 Communist Rebellion was an intelligence operation carried out by the Air Force Intelligence headed by Heru Atmodjo.

The grave removal was protested by a member of the House of Representatives who said that it was illegal because Heru Atmodjo has been declared a Hero, therefore eligible to be buried at the Heroes Cemetery.

This incident makes me wonder whether or not the authorities would remove the grave of other Heroes who were alleged of Corruption.

The Controvertial PT Newmond Nusa Tenggara

PT. Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) is the operator of a Gold and Copper mine located at the Island of Sumbawa, Nusa Tenggara province.

Currently, NNT's shares are owned by Newmont, U.S.A and Sumitomo, Japan : 56 percent, and two Indonesian companies i.e. PT. Pukuafu Indah : 20 percent  and PT. Multi Daerah Bersaing : 24 percent.

Based on a working contract signed in 1986, foreign ownership of the shares must gradually be reduced to 49 percent after 10 years of commercial operations under the so-called mandatory divestment program. And the central government has the right to purchase the divested shares.

According to Tempointeractive, the central government and the Regency of Sumbawa are now competing with each other to purchase the shares, valued at US$ 271.6 million.

According to The Jakarta Post, the central government planned to purchase the shares through Government Investment Center (PIP). By purchasing the shares the government aimed to monitor more closely the  implementation of the 1986 working contract to “provide a more conducive investment climate” and “contribute in adding value and governance” in the firm.

While the Regency of Sumbawa wants to purchase the shares through PT. Multi Daerah Bersaing, a joint venture between PT Daerah Maju Bersaing (owned by Regency government) and PT Multi Capital (owned by Aburizal Bakrie/Golkar).

The Regency of Sumbawa not only insisted that the shares should be sold to them, but the Regent threatened to close the mine if they do not get the shares. To support this demand, thousands of Sumbawa citizens have demonstrated in front of NNT's mine.

Opposition also comes from members of the House of Representatives who supported the demand of the Sumbawa Regency.

Considering the growing protests by local citizens in Sumbawa, I felt that the central government should meet with the government of Regency of Sumbawa to find a win-win solution for this case.

The House of Representatives and Porn Movie

I always thought that members of the House of Representatives are respectable persons who would uphold laws, regulations and moral value in our country.

This is obvious because people elected those politicians to represent them, therefore voice their aspirations, act for an on their behalf, in the running of the country, including controlling the government.

Unfortunately, those politicians often forget the people who elected them. For example, Arifinto from PKS, a party that claimed to be based on Islam, was caught red handed watching porn movie on his tablet computer.

Kompas reported that Arifinto has admitted watching the blue movie unintentionally, he said that at that time he was checking e-mail when he accidentally opened an e-mail containing the porn movie.

Considering that members of the House of Representatives are elected by the people and paid by tax payers money they always do their very best efforts to do their job properly. If they want to watch porn movies they can always do it after working hours at home or other places. 
Therefore, I hope that the House of Representatives Ethics committee,  the PKS and the Police would take action based on the Law No 11/2008 regarding Electronic Information and Transaction, .

Too Many Foolishness

Today, 1 April, is widely recognized and celebrated as a day where many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness.

The day is marked by the commission of good humoured or funny jokes, hoaxes, and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbors, work associates, etc.

But unfortunately, unlike previous years, no one ever tried to tell jokes, hoaxes or surprised me today.

Maybe it is because people are too sick and tired with the so many funny, foolish, stupid and surprising things that have happened in our society recently, such as :
-  The House of Representatives' refusal to investigate the Tax Mafia Case.
-  The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) leadership dispute
-  The on-and-off Cabinet Reshuffle
-  The unstable coalition government 
-  The House of Representatives' plan to build a very expensive new building

I hope that from now on there will not be to much fools in Indonesia, so that we can celebrate April Fool's Day again next year.

The New Building for the House of Representatives

Pictures of the building complex of the House of Representatives (DPR). The picture on the left shows the new 36 storeys building that will be constructed soon.

According to media reports, the construction costs will be Rp 7.2 Million per Square Meter, and each of the 560 members shall have an office with an area of 111.1 Square Meter that will cost Rp 800 Million.  The complex will be equipped with Spa and Swimming Pool.


Photo: Courtesy of  DPR

The Intelligence Bill

The House of Representatives is currently working with the government on the Intelligence Bill :

According to Detik News, there are 12 crucial matters in this Bill :
-  Definition of Intelligence 
-  Eavesdropping/phone tapping
-  Secret Intelligence Information
-  The right intelligence agency to arrest suspects
-  The creation of an Intelligence Coordinating Agency to coordinate intelligence network
-  Supervision of Intelligence agency
-  Organization and Functions of intelligence agency : foreign, domestic, military, law enforcement
-  The Structure and Position of intelligence agency
-  Personnel and Recruitment
-  Codes of Ethics and Prohibitions
-  Demilitarization of the Intelligence agency
-  The rights of victims of Intelligence agency

According to The Jakarta Globe, the government has insisted that the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) should be given the authority to arrest  suspected terrorists before they attack, as well as other people suspected of espionage and subversion.

Some lawmakers and NGO refused to give authorities to arrest and eavesdrop, because they feared that such authority might be abused. Recent release of the Wikileaks alleged that President SBY has used intelligence agency to spy on his political rivals, but was denied by the President and government officials. 

KPK and the Politicians

Last Friday, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested 19 current and former members of the House of Representatives over alleged bribery related to the appointment Senior Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia in 2004.

The arrest angered political parties of those politicians, Golkar Party, the PPP and PDIP, who alleged that KPK has not been fair in their actions. They said that KPK should take action on recent cases like the Bank Century bailout.

They further alleged that the arrest was a consession made by KPK to the Attorney General in exchange for the release of two of its Vice Chairmen i.e. Bibit and Chandra from Criminal Prosecution. 

In retaliation to KPK's action, last Monday the House of Representatives Legal Commission canceled a meeting with KPK, because some of their members refused to meet with Bibit and Chandra who they claimed are still not cleared from Criminal Prosecutions.
Later on, they banned both gentlemen from attending future meetings with the House.  

The above mentioned actions of the members of the House of Representatives reminded me of the statement made by former President Abdurrahman Wahid who alleged that their behaviours were like Kindergarten kids.

Photo : Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Impeachment : a Myth or a Fact ?

                                      Chief Justice: Mahfud (Right) - Deputy A. Sodiki (Left)

On 12 January, the Constitutional Court has passed a decision that makes it much easier for the House of Representatives to make inquiries to the government, which may lead to the impeachment of the President and/or Vice President.

The Court annulled Article 184(4) of the Legislative Bodies Law No 27/2009 which stipulated that inquiries can be made if a meeting is attended by by 3/4 of the members and agreed by 3/4 of the attendance, and decided that 2/3 would be sufficient.

The Court's decision was made in response to the Judicial Review requested by some members of the House of Representatives and citizens on the grounds that the above Article was contradictory to the Constitution of 1945 which ruled that the meeting's quorum should be 2/3.

I hope that members of the House would use their rights wisely and only based on the laws, regulations and very best interests of the people of Indonesia, and not merely based on their selfish political goals.

I also hope that the President and Vice President would work properly much harder, smarter, based on the laws, regulations, and the best interests of the people so that they would not be impeached.

For details, please read the following articles :

- Court Cuts House Threshold Level for Impeachment (The Jakarta Globe)
- MK Nyatakan Jumlah 3/4 Kuorum .... Inkonstutusionil (Mahkamah Konstitusi)


Photo: Courtesy of Mahkamah Konstitusi

Controversial Comparative Studies

One of hottest topics in the Indonesian news media today is the controversy over the costly official trips made by members of the House of Representatives to foreign countries for comparative studies on the implementation of various laws.

Please find below an article about this that I have quoted from The Jakarta Globe. 

Considering that Indonesia still needs a lot of money for improving education, health and eradicating poverty, I wonder whether such study is necessary at this time. Especially nowadays one can connect with each other fast, easy and less costly through various telecommunication networks .

Legislators Leave for British Trip Despite Outcry
Armando Siahaan | September 20, 2010

Jakarta. Despite mounting criticism, the House of Representatives’ Commission III is sticking with its decision to send legislators to Britain and Canada for a comparative study on an immigration bill.

Commission chairman Benny K Harman said on Monday that the study was important to ensure the quality of the bill.

However, the Democratic Party legislator left it to the press and the media to evaluate the output from the trip. “Whether they do their jobs there, that’s [the media’s] job to determine,” he said, urging the public to scrutinize what the legislators did after the trip.

Benny said delegation leaders would later submit a report to Commission III, which oversees legal affairs. “This will be open for the public to review,” he said, adding the commission was ready to disclose any request for information relating to the trips.

“We will invite the media to learn more about the trip once they return,” he said. “Even though we approved the visit, we ask the public to critique the legislators involved.”

The commission will send two delegations, each including 10 legislators and three staffers, to Britain and Canada.

The group heading to London will be led by commission deputy chairman Azis Syamsuddin from Golkar. It leaves today.

The other group, led by fellow deputy chairman Tjatur Sapto Edy, from the National Mandate Party (PAN), is scheduled to depart on Oct. 1.

“The commission believes that Britain and Canada have modern immigration systems,” Benny said.

Legislators will study the two countries’ handling of citizens’ mobility, especially for foreigners married to Indonesians, the granting of permanent residency and handling of foreign workers.

A document obtained from the commission’s secretariat shows the legislators arrive in London on Wednesday morning local time and spend the day meeting embassy officials and Indonesians living in London.

On Thursday, the legislators are scheduled to visit the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office, while on Friday they will visit the United Kingdom Border Agency. The trip ends on Saturday at noon.

The Kompas.com Web site said the delegation would be staying at the Marriott Hotel. Benny did not specify how much the trips would cost but said that did not matter because “if you want a good-quality legislature, it’s expensive.”

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) released a report on Sunday that showed Rp 19.5 trillion ($2.16 billion) had been allocated for official domestic and overseas trips this year.

The amount is shared between the president, the House of Representatives, ministries and other state institutions.

Fitra said Rp 170.3 billion had been allocated to the House for overseas trips, while the president got Rp 179 billion for official visits abroad.

Two House commissions recently sent delegations to five different countries at a total cost of Rp 3.7 billion.

House Commission X, overseeing education, sent its working committee on the Scouts bill to Japan, South Korea and South Africa.

Meanwhile, House Commission IV, overseeing agriculture, sent a delegation working on the horticulture bill to the Netherlands and Norway.

The State of the Nation Speech

Every year on 16 August, a President of Indonesia delivers a state of the nation speech before a joint meeting of the parliament i.e. the House of Representatives and the Regional Representative Council.

Today, President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) delivered a speech that covers various aspects in the country, such as Politics, Economy, Corruption, Terrorist, Inter-Faith relationship, etc.

There are two aspects that I would like to write here, first about Inter-Faith relationship, whereby SBY calls the Indonesian people to exercise the "true philosophy of harmonious living in a pluralistic society", and calls for religious tolerance.

SBY's statement is related to the frequent attacks by certain Moslem radical/fanatics on the activities of Christian minorities, the latest one being the attack on Christian Church in Bekasi, West Java.

Very disapointed with the way the government and law enforcement agencies handle these attacks, whereby attackers were seldom punnished, last Sunday around 1,400 Christians have protested by holding their prayer in front of the SBY official residence at the Merdeka Palace.

On the economic side, SBY said that he is optimistic that Indonesia's annual Gross Domestic Product would grow 7.7% by 2014 (currently 5-6%), this he said would create new jobs for 10.7 million people and slash poverty by 8 to 10%.

The figures mentioned are very good compared to complaints I have heard from my friends, and other people that have been reported by TVs, newspapers, radios, about the crazy price hikes of Pepper, Eggs, Chicken, Meat and so many other commodities, that have been going on for some time. Whereas the cheap things sold in the markets are mostly imported items starting from vegetables, fruits, toys, garments, etc. etc.
And then there were labour unrests, high unemployment rates, so many beggars/tramp that can be clearly seen on many corners of Jakarta and vicinity, very high crime rates, etc. etc. etc.

One thing that I am very disapointed was that SBY seems to forget about the frequent explosion of LPG Canisters that have killed and injured so many innocent people, and solution for the never ending Lapindo Mud Flow tragedy in Sidoarjo, East Java.

Nevertheless, I hope that SBY would be more firm, decisive and confident in leading his government so that all the things that he has promised during the presidential election campaigns can be fulfilled.

For details, please read the following articles :
-  SBY Calls for Religious Tolerance
-  SBY's Target to Slash Unemployment
-  Religious Minorities in Indonesia Push back 

Photo :  Courtesy of Kompas.

Pong Harjatmo and the House of Representatives

Pong Harjatmo (68) is a senior movie actor who is well known in the years 1970-1980, whereby he often played the role as a high school sports teacher.

I have not heard about him for more than a decade, and today I was surprised when Tempointeraktif (below) reported about the protest he made against the members of the House of Representatives by climbing the roof of the House building. 

I hope that what Pong did today would make members of the House aware that people are sick and tired about their performances many of whom are very lazy to attend meetings, love to sleep during meetings, involve in crimes, etc.

Actor Attempts Youthful Anti-Government Protest
Friday, 30 July, 2010 | 21:51 WIB 
 
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: A mid-level Indonesian actor who is already past his era had shot up back to fame in a far different stage where he gained his fame was, after he threw himself into the domestic political limelight in a lively fashion that has been considered offensive by some but has waken an even larger support from the public.

Pong Harjatmo, 68, who was famous during the 70's through several silver screen motion pictures successfully scaled up today (30/7) the roof top of the 100-meter-tall parliament building, once occupied illegally by youthful students during the 1998 protest that toppled down Soeharto, to write three words in red paint; "Honest, Fair, and Strict.

In a huge disappointment over the nation's political condition and frustration over the unfruitful attempts by the media, including his bid to spread subtle messages through his film roles, to control the government, Pong said "This is one of my act to be heard."

The Javanese actor who has sparked support from his old fans as well as younger activists through various media said "All these times the government and the people's representatives had failed to solve any problem. From Century (bail out) to gas explosions."

Some lawmakers offended by the act made response today but mostly chose to remain silent.

Born in Solo where the mausoleum of the Soeharto family located, Pong entered the sports teacher school run by the airforce and later become a serviceman and teacher.

He starred several feature films that have been some of his top achievements between 1969 and 1971 and continue his showbiz carrer in TV soaps until now.

Young director Joko Anwar wrote in his twitter account today "We Love You Om (Indonesian adaptation from dutch term for uncle) Pong Harjatmo!!". Another support on twitter read "Pongharjatmo at old age with a risk of slipping off the house's roof, succeeded in representing the people who are stiffened from hearing the victims of gas explosion".

HAYATI MAULANA NUR | ARYANI KRISTANTI | PDAT | FWH (Various Sources)

Lazy Representatives

Every five years the Indonesian people elected some men and women as their representatives at the national and regional houses of representatives to supervise the management of the country.
In order to enable those representatives work well and diligently, the state provide them with very good salary, luxurious housing, car and other privileges.

However, many of those representatives do not seems to be satisfied with all those benefits and privileges that they tend to be lazy in attending meetings of the house of representatives.

According to the announcement of Secretariat General of the House of Representatives, members attending the meetings during 3 periods has been declining : at the first period (1 Oct.'09-4 Dec.'09) 92.57%, at the second period (4 Jan.'10-5 Mar '10) 84.32%, and at the third period (5 Apr'10-18Jun'10) only 71.59%.

The above announcement has made many representatives annoyed and angry, this is obvious because they felt terribly ashamed at their own behaviour.

Considering that those representatives are paid by the state using Tax Money collected from the people, I hope that an investigation would be carried out on those lazy representatives, and action would be taken on those who are proven to be lazy.


Related articles :
-  Less than 300 of 560 Legislators attend House Plenary Session (The Jakarta Post)
-  Lack of quorum, House plenary session temporarily delayed (The Jakarta Post)
-  Anggota DPR tetap Bandel dan Bolos (Kompas)
-  Kesekjenan DPR diminta klarifikasi data (Kompas)

Bank Century Case Update

After four months of "investigation", yesterday the House of Representative's Special Commitee on the Bank Century case conducted its final session. As predicted, the session was chaotic, inside and outside the House's building.

Outside, around 20,000 students, anti-corruption activists and other activists demonstrated to give some sort of pressure to the 560 members of the House to make proper decision on the mysterious bailout that costed 6.7 Trillion Rupiah of tax payers money.

And inside, members of the House defended their perceptions of the case, as follows :
1) Four political parties (PDIP,Golkar, PKS & Hanura) claimed that the bail out was illegally and
    demanded that former Governor of Central Bank, current Vice President Boediono, and Finance 
    Minister Sri Mulyani should be responsible;
2) Two political parties, including the ruling Democrat Party(PD), claimed that the bail out was legal
3) Three political parties claimed that the bail out was illegal without mentioning any names.

The Democrat Party (PD) was very annoyed that the above four parties that have been very agressive includes two members of their Coalition i.e Golkar and PKS. PD tried to lobby both parties to change their stance. One of PD's lobbyists is President SBY's Special Assistant for Natural Disasters i.e. Andi Arief who accused Muhamad Makhbuhin of PKS of issuing an unsettled LC amounting   to US$ 22,500,000.00 with the Bank Century.

After the Head of Special Committee Idrus Markham finished delivering his final report, the House Speaker Marzuki Alie closed the session causing overwhelming protests from the opposing members.
After several hours, the House leaders announced that the Session will be continued the next day i.e. today, during which they would make decision on the case by voting.

I only hope that the members of the House would make their decisions on this cased merely based on the best interests of the people of Indonesia, not on their political parties' interests (I'll keep my fingers crossed).

Source :  Various mass media (TV, Radio, Papers, websites)