Representatives More Distant from the People

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

Supreme Court chief Hatta Ali leads the swearing-in of People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) deputy speakers Ahmad Muzani (left to right), Ahmad Basarah and Muhaimin Iskandar at the MPR building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday (26/3).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Three new People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) deputy speakers were inaugurated on Monday (26/3) amid the onslaught of public criticism and objections from the MPR’s United Development Party (PPP) faction. This indifference to the public furor over the new positions has led to allegations that the people’s representatives are deliberately distancing themselves from the people.

Ahmad Basarah of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction, Ahmad Muzani of the Greater Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra) faction and Muhaimin Iskandar of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction were inaugurated as the new MPR deputy speakers on Monday. They were installed at an MPR plenary session led by MPR Speaker Zulkifli Hasan at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta.

Members of nine out of the 10 MPR factions and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) attended the inauguration. The PPP faction did not attend the inauguration to continue its objection of Law No. 2/2018 on Legislative Institutions (MD3 Law), under which the three new MPR deputy speakers were installed.

“The addition of the deputy speakers is expected to strengthen MPR’s institutional tasks. Observing current developments in our nation-state, it is important to reinforce ourselves,” said Zulkifli.

Zulkifli said that there were three key issues that needed to be considered in improving the MPR’s performance through the additional deputy speaker seats. First was the low level of public trust in legislative institutions; second was the political and economic gap and the urgent need to achieve justice and nurture diversity in the country; third was the corruption caused by high political costs.

Ahmad Basarah said he believed the additional MPR deputy speakers would increase the effectiveness of the MPR’s plan to amend the 1945 Constitution to restore its authority to establish state policy guidelines (GBHN).

Meanwhile, Ahmad Muzani acknowledged that the additional MPR deputy speakers would further burden the state’s finances. However, this could be balanced by the MPR performing effectively.

Muhaimin Iskandar said he saw the addition of the MPR deputy speakers as a way to fix the post-2014 election anomalies of the MPR speakership, in which the speaker and deputy speakers were not elected based on the proportionality of electoral votes. The additional deputy speakers should also serve to unite political power for the eventual strengthening of the MPR.

Muhaimin said the people had the right to allege that the new deputy speakers were inaugurated only to advance party interests in gaining votes ahead of the 2019 election, and that it could personally improve his chances of securing the vice presidential nomination next year. “It is up to the people to determine their own views. For us, the 2019 election is still a long way off and we will just concentrate on MPR for now,” he said.

Legal flaw

PPP faction head Arwani Thomafi said the party still believed that the addition of an MPR deputy speaker seat for the PKB was legally flawed. This was because the law stipulated that the additional MPR deputy speaker seat was to be given to the party with the sixth greatest number of votes in the 2014 election. This was the National Mandate Party (PAN), not the PKB.

This was why PPP refused to attend the inauguration. “Our stance is aimed to protect the MPR’s dignity,” Arwani said.

Various groups across the country also voiced their objection of Law No. 2/2018, such as the 100 university students who held a protest on Monday at the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Legislative Council in Kupang, NTT.

Gadjah Mada University sociologist Arie Sujito said the MPR representatives should understand that public trust in them continued to decline because of their lack of achievement and good performance.

Public trust in the representatives may continue to decline with the MPR’s indifference toward public criticism and aspirations for Law No. 2/2018, including the additional MPR deputy speakers.

“Inaugurating the new MPR deputy speakers was not in the public’s best interests. There is no guarantee that the addition will improve the MPR’s performance. Now, it is clear that the addition was for their own political interests to create a new public stage for gaining votes in the 2019 elections,” said Arie.

Arie added that continuing to disregard the people’s criticism and aspirations only increased the representatives’ distance from the people. “This is dangerous for democracy, as it might lead to people losing hope in their representatives in the legislature,” he said.

(APA/KOR/AGE)