AIPA NEWS BULLETIN FIRST QUARTERLY                                                                    OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2007

PARLIAMENTARY NEWS INDONESIA

A.  PARLIAMENTARY SITTINGS

The Second Plenary Session of the DPR-RI for the period 2007-2008 was opened by Speaker, H.E. H.R Agung Laksono on 5 November 2007. In his speech he addressed important issues including that of poverty alleviation. On this issue, the speaker reminded the government to continuously seek for the best solution and work more seriously to achieve the targets of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015 especially in eradicating poverty and hunger, decreasing infant mortality rate and increasing health quality standard.

He underlined the urgency to adopt the package of bills on the general election and political parties, emphasizing the need for all factions in the House to have the determination to pass the bills before the end of the session on 7 December 2007 considering the importance of the bills for the preparation of the general election to be held in 2009.

On efforts at combating corruption, the Speaker mentioned that the House would be establishing a new leadership for the Committee on Combating Corruption (KPK) and would be conducting fit and proper evaluation of the candidates.

Finally, the Speaker expressed his deep concern on the suicide attack which killed Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani Prime Minister. The tragedy killed 139 people and wounded hundreds of others. He stressed that DPR-RI condemned the tragedy and called on all parties to combat terrorism.

B.  DPR-RI ATTENDED INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL CONFERENCES

1)  The 117^TH Meeting of Inter-Parliamentary Union, in Geneva, Switzerland

An Indonesian Delegation attended the 117^th Assembly of IPU from 8 to 10 October 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland.

DPR-RI successfully convinced the meeting to adopt its proposed emergency item on Human Rights, Violence and Democracy Restoration in Myanmar. Indonesia was elected to chair the informal meeting of ASEAN + 3 Group.  In addition, as a member of the Executive Committee, Indonesia also participated in the EXCOM meeting, the Asia Pacific Group meeting and the Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians meeting.

2) IPU Seminar on Migration: the Human Rights Perspective, 24-26 October 2007, Geneva, Switzerland

An Indonesian delegation took part in this seminar which discussed human rights protection, particularly on migration issues.

Some of the results were as follows:

      To promote the commitment of countries to immediately ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and their Families, and other ILO Conventions on migrants.

      To promote national legislation policy in migration management which guarantee the honor and protection of migrant rights.

      To develop education and knowledge in schools concerning the honor and protection of migrant rights, anti-discrimination and diaspora integration.

3)  The 2nd Meeting of the Executive Council and the 2nd Plenary Session of APA, 17-21 November 2007, Tehran, Iran

The 2nd Meeting of the Executive Council and the 2nd Plenary Session of APA were held from 17 to 21 November 2007 in Tehran, Iran. The Indonesian delegation led by the Speaker of DPR-RI, H.E. H.R. Agung Laksono attended and engaged in the discussions on various issues of common concern within the Asian region.

The meeting adopted the Charter of APA and APA Rules of Procedure and decided on Indonesia to host the 3rd General Assembly of APA to be held in 2008.

During the meeting, the Indonesian Delegation proposed some amendments to the APA Charter such as the Basic Organ of the APA and the new article on the Executive Council and Bureau of the Assembly. Based on the Indonesian proposal, the meeting agreed to divide geographic distributions into 5 sub regions namely; West Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, the Pacific and Central Asia. In addition, the meeting also agreed to establish the APA Permanent Secretariat to be located in Tehran, Iran.

4)   IPU Seminar on Parliament Capacity Building on SustainableDevelopment,

      26-28 November 2007 in Vientiane, Lao PDR

The forum comprehensively discussed many aspects of sustainable development such as poverty alleviation, energy and biodiversity.  The Indonesian Delegation raised its concern on energy efficiency and stated that Indonesia had implemented several measures and strategies such as to develop coal, bio mass power generator used in villages, coconut oil, sugar cane and cassava as  alternative energy resources.

C.  DPR-RI WELCOMED GUESTS FROM  FELLOW COUNTRIES

1.   President of Palestine

DPR-RI welcomed the visit of the President of Palestine, H.E. Mahmoud Abbas on 23 October 2007 to the DPR-RI building.

At the meeting, the President of Palestine appealed for the support of the Indonesian Government and Parliament to the Palestinian struggle of seeking independence and establishing a sovereign state that would live in harmony with the other nations in the Middle East region. The visit by the President of Palestine was in conjunction with the Middle East International Peace Conference to be held in Washington in November 2007. 

In his response, the Speaker of DPR-RI stated that the Indonesian Government and Parliament had always been concerned and monitored the progress of the Middle East situation especially the Palestinian issue. He expressed his sympathy and support and mentioned that the Indonesian Parliament had encouraged the government to provide financial aid to Palestine.

The Speaker of DPR-RI went on to express the hope that all parties in Palestine such as Hamas and Fatah could cooperate with each other by involving all elements in order to realize an independent state of Palestine. DPR-RI suggested that to realize the Palestinian state, priority be given to the unity of the nation.

2.   Minister of Foreign Affairs of Timor Leste

On Monday 29 October 2007, DPR-RI received the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Timor Leste, Zacarias Albano da Costa.  The meeting discussed the trans-boundary issue relating to the death of a Timor Leste citizen who crossed the border to Indonesia. The Minister informed that he had met the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affair to discuss current bilateral issues.

The two countries agreed to boost cooperation by establishing a police academy for joint training and enhance trans-boundary cooperation by providing border pass, trans-boundary documents in order to control border-crossings.  He would further discuss matters relating to trans-boundary issues with Prime Minister, H.E. Xanana Gusmao. The Minister also informed that his visit to Indonesia would be followed by the visit of the Speaker of Timor Leste.

3.   President of European Union

On 23 November 2007, DPR-RI welcomed the visit of the President of the European Union, Jose Manuel Barroso who expressed appreciation on the development of democracy in Indonesia and who also expressed the hope that this situation could be maintained and further developed for the people’s prosperity.

 

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