Reveal the Performance of House Members

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

Lawmakers listen to a speech by House of Representatives Speaker Bambang Soesatyo in a plenary session at the legislative complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday (29/8/2018).

Issues about members of the House of Representatives, who play truant, are not new. Ahead of the general election on April 17, 2019, there emerge expectations from the public that House members who fail to show up at the office should be identified.

The expectation is understandable. A sympathetic response came from Arsul Sani, the executive chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) faction, as quoted by Kompas on Nov. 23. Arsul said, "In order to take the House away from the spotlight, the activities of House, activities inside and outside the House building should be revealed so that they can be monitored by the public."

Being present at meetings and voicing the aspirations of their constituents are the main tasks of House members. They are present to represent the people. It is also the people who lead them to have the title “the Honorable”. Therefore, when House members never attend House meetings, their voices are never heard in defending the interests of the voters, actually this is a betrayal of the people.

Data shows the image of the House has not improved. Based on a Kompas poll in August, only 37.5 percent of respondents rated the image of the House as good. Making laws, which has to involve the government, has not satisfied the public. Their supervision has not been optimal.

From the available data, at least 511 of 560 House members for the 2014-2019 period will contest the 2019 general election. When the majority of the House members of the 2014-2019 period put themselves forward again, it is reasonable that the public want the performance of the House members to be revealed. Disclosing the presence of House members in various meetings is a political necessity.

The public must know whether the House members have worked to voice the interests of voters or not. From General Elections Commission (KPU) data, 7,968 legislative candidates will contest the legislative elections again. The Kompas poll, Nov. 14-15, showed that the level of recognition of House members was still very low.

We encourage the House leadership or House secretariat general to open the track records of the DPR members to the public. The track records deal with their presence and voting records. The public must also know the political position of the House members on various issues. Whether the political position of the DPR members is in line with the political aspirations of the voters or even on the contrary. To the KPU, we also encourage the commission to reveal legislative candidates who have the status of ex-corruptors.

House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo actually has tried to make the House closer to the public through the House Now application. The application can be developed to monitor the activities of House members – presence, opinion, voting record and House interaction with the people – to that the House members are increasingly closer to the people and not increasingly separated from their voters.

In the digital democracy era, interaction between voters and House members becomes very easy. The House members can utilize the digital strength to consult with the voters in their electoral districts and report their political works to their voters. Moreover, revealing the House members who play truant will improve the quality of the House in the future.