Committee III submits five-year performance report

Committee Vice Chairman Desmond J. Mahesa: “A good example”

IO, Jakarta – At the end of their term, Committee III of the House (DPR-RI) launched the book Selayang Pandang Komisi III DPR RI: Evaluasi Penegakan Hukum di Indonesia 2014-2019 (“A Brief View of Committee III DPR RI: Evaluation of Law Enforcement in Indo­nesia 2014-2019”). The book contains the summary and compilation of all of Committee III’s meetings and activities with all of its work partners through­out 2014-2019. “The book was a re­sult of the discussions and meetings of all Committee III’s leadership as well as the form of its accountability for its 5 years term in 2014-2019,” Committee III Chairman Aziz Syam­sudin stated in the launching of the book held in the Lobby of Gedung Nusantara II DPR RI, Senayan, Ja­karta, on Monday (23/09/2019).

Aziz mentioned Desmond J. Ma­hesa, Vice Chairman of Committee III, as the person who came up with the idea of a book that compiles and summarizes the results of Commis­sion III’s work with its work part­ners. The book includes both Work Meetings (Rapat Kerja – “Raker”) and Hearings (Rapat Dengar Pendapat – “RDP”). Azis hopes that the book, cre­ated by Committee III with the help of experts, can serve as an integrated re­cord of all the results and conclusions of these Rakers and RDPs for DPR members in the subsequent term. He further expressed his hopes that the book will be useful for the common public as well. He also said that he is using the book as personal reference for his future career. “On behalf of the entire leadership and membership of Committee III, I would like to apologize for any behavior that may be deemed improper and tense during meetings throughout 2014-2019. Again, we apologize greatly,” he said.

Aziz further made a mention of the chairmen of Committee III from the start of the term. As we all know, Azis led Committee III of DPR RI in 2014- 2015. He was replaced by Bambang Soesatyo in 2016-2017, who was in turn replaced by Kahar Muzakir in 2017-2018. The leadership reverted to Azis in 2019 until the end of the term. “We may ‘live and die’ in turn as politicians. We may serve as Commit­tee Chairman today, become a member tomorrow, only to become chairman again the day after,” he said.

Committee III Vice Chairman Des­mond J. Mahesa stated that his posi­tion includes working in partnership with several partners, including the Police, Prosecutor’s Office, Corrup­tion Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi – “KPK”), Su­preme Court, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, Constitutional Court, Judicial Commission, National Com­mission on Human Right (Komisi Na­sional Hak Asasi Manusia – “Komnas HAM”), National Narcotics Agency (Badan Narkotika Nasional – “BNN”), Financial Transaction Reporting and Analysis Center (Pusat Pelapo­ran dan Analisis Transaksi Keuan­gan – “PPATK”), Witness and Victim Protection Agency (Lembaga Perlind­ungan Saksi dan Korban – “LPSK”), and National Agency for Combating Terrorism (Badan Nasional Penang­gulangan Terorisme – “BNPT”) in re­ceiving the people’s aspirations, sort­ing them out, and then forwarding them to each relevant partner. “Some partners quickly respond to the peo­ple’s complaints and reports, others are slow. An example of the quick re­sponders is the Police,” he said.

Desmond further stated that Committee III’s efforts can become the precedent for submitting the Committee’s Accountability Report to the public in book form. “The book can serve as a recommendation for the next Committee III and a perfor­mance record for our partners. Other Committees may imitate this effort. Even the Chairman of DPR RI can submit his accountability report in book form like this,” he said.

Meanwhile, DPR RI Deputy Speak­er and Coordinator for the People’s Welfare Fahri Hamzah stated that law enforcement in Indonesia is solid and it has improved from the past. “If Committee members unite, if they have a strong support system and legacy, we can count on law reforms to improve Indonesia. After all, the good and bad of a country is por­trayed from its laws. If the country is safe, investors will come. Therefore, Committee III is the guard of our fu­ture economic stability,” he said.

The book launch was also attend­ed by Committee III DPR RI members Erma Suryani Ranik (from Democrat Party Faction), Mulfachri Harahap (from National Mandate Party Fac­tion), Habib Aboe Bakar Alhabsy and Nasir Djamil (from Prosperous Justice Party Faction), and Masin­ton Pasaribu (from Indonesian Dem­ocratic Party of Struggle Faction). Also attending were Committee III work partners, including Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Yason­na H. Laoly; Vice Chief of the Police, Commissioner General Ari Dono Sukmanto; Chairman of BNN, Heru Winarko; Chairman of the Judicial Commission, Jaja Ahmad Jayus; Vice Attorney General, Arminsyah; PPATK Chairman, Kiagus Ahmad Badarud­din; and a Vice Chairman of the Su­preme Court. (Dan)