From Yahoo! Indonesia:
People’s Representative Council Continues Leisure Trip to Germany and Japan
Members of the People’s Representative Council (DPR) will not only be visiting China and Brazil. The Vice Chairman of the Special Committee for drafting the Regional Governance Act, Khatibul Umam Wiranu, said that the council members will plan to also visit Germany and Japan.
According to him, 16 members of the DPR will go on a trip to Germany for six days, starting from September 23. The Special Committee has not discussed a visit to Japan yet. “We may discuss it again after the recess,” said the Democratic Party politician in his interview with Tempo
Umam said that Germany will be used as a reference because it has a good governance system. In Germany, the board members will learn about their regional government system, the relationship between the central and regional government and financial management. They will also visit some key pilot areas.
This morning, 13 members of the Special Law Committee went to Brazil for seven days. This visit is a continuation of the last comparative study that was done in China on July 6 to 12 this year. The visit, led by Budiman Sudjatmiko, Vice Chairman of the Special Committee from the Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle, was estimated to cost about Rp 1.629 billion [~170k USD].
A member of the Special Committee, Abdul Gafar Patappe, will join the group to visit Brazil. In addition, he will also join the legislator group to visit Germany. “I’ll join the study visit to Germany this September,” he said. The draft on Regional Governance Act will also be discussed by the DPR. Even though there are two Special Committees formed [to discuss the bills], all of their members are the same.
Some opposition parties heavily criticized these frequent DPR study visits. Indonesia Budget Center Executive Director, Arif Nur Alam, believed that these plans to visit Brazil, Germany, and Japan will worsen the image of the DPR. If they need more information, members of the DPR should have assigned their staff to do research. “There is no urgency to visit those countries. These trips are just DPR schemes to spend any leftover budget,” explained Arif.
August Mellaz, Researcher of the Organization of Election and Democracy, also questioned the countries selected by the DPR. In August’s assessment, Germany is not a suitable country to do comparative study on local government matters. “We are not sure what their considerations are, since Germany essentially embraces federalism,” he said.
DPR members shopping in Berlin, Germany during “study trip”.
However, the Chairman of the Special Committee on Regional Governance Act, Totok Daryanto, claims that these visits would be beneficial for the discussion and study of legislation and laws. He denied that the comparative study is just a waste of public money. The trip to Germany, for example, is not entirely financed by the Indonesian government. “The German government will bear the cost of our accommodation,” he explained.
Comments from Yahoo! Indonesia:
Mafia:
Forget it… let’s stop pouring negative comments on those council members, let’s just pray the plane doesn’t land safely there…
Angga:
It’s so hard to trust our public officials! They’re completely different before and after the election.
Muhamad:
Yep, if their morality is already corrupted, even a comparative study at the zoo will not be useful.
Combro:
DPR members say: I don’t care what you guys say… the most important thing is I can go on vacation!
TS:
DISSOLVE THE DPR!
ANDHI:
When will you guys go to Hell?
Xi:
DPR = dogs of political parties, all shit!
Sun Gondrong:
Dear God, please forgive the public officials of this country… Please help them so they’ll regain their conscience – a prayer from the suffering people of this country.
Jong:
How did these people become representatives? All they do is just show off.. tsk tsk tsk.
Zul Friday:
Next year, I’ll nominate myself to be a member of DPR… then I can go on vacation for free… Yayyy!….
Creative:
Please also spare the time to visit a mental hospital in Brazil! Are you guys still sane?
Kincus:
Just do a comparative study in China… to learn about the death sentence for corrupt officials. Do you guys still dare to go?
Bambang:
Fucking IDIOTS!
Mawar:
Tsk… tsk… nothing is right in this country!
ROI:
In the past, what did you guys learn from these study visits? Most of the time, you guys just sleep and interrupt parliament sessions.
Takada:
I’m speechless… ~_~ !
MOnIE:
These DPR members are really heartless human beings. Shame on them!!
What do you think of these “comparative studies”? Are these studies justified to be conducted overseas?
People’s Representative Council member Hayono Isman shopping in the expensive Burberry boutique in Berlin, Germany.
