'Factions give parties a voice of legislature'<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
Political parties, strengthened by Government Regulation No.
\n1\/2002, need the presence of factions at their legislatures to
\nbetter fight for their political interests, legislators say.<\/p>\n
Further, Rudi Harsa Tanaya, chairman of the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction in West
\nJava and Rafani Akhyar, chairman of the National Mandate Party
\n(PAN) faction, said they would oppose any dissolution of current
\nfactions at the legislature, citing a need for their voices in
\nthe decision-making process.<\/p>\n
The pair offered similar words on Friday, when asked whether
\nit was necessary to break down the factions, since they were not
\nofficially part of the legislature to begin with, and thus
\nperhaps impeded legislators' independent abilities to work
\ntowards the greater good of their constituents.<\/p>\n
Their presence is \"in line with the current electoral system
\nwith which political parties ... have authority to determine if
\nmembers can sit in the legislature to fight for a political
\nplatform,\" Rudi said.<\/p>\n
Rudi said that his faction, and its members, were obliged to
\nlobby for PDI Perjuangan's programs, while winning political
\nsupport from a larger pool of people during elections.<\/p>\n
Rafani concurred, chiming in that the legislature would use
\nthe one-man, one-vote system in the decision-making process, both
\nat the plenary session level and the commission level, to help
\nempower legislators to use their individual rights.<\/p>\n
He hailed government regulations minimizing the number of
\nfactions present in the legislature as a way to simplify
\nlegislative machinations.<\/p>\n
The regulation, moreover, will ease the decision-making,
\n\"because the more factions there are, the more (time) the
\nlegislature will spend,\" he added.<\/p>\n
During its plenary session Thursday, however, the provincial
\nlegislative council was deadlocked over whether it would enforce
\nthe government regulation fully.<\/p>\n
The regulation, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2002, requires
\nprovincial and regency legislatures to have with them
\nrepresentatives of factions who make up at least ten percent of
\nthe total number of the legislatures' parties.<\/p>\n
Factions whose members meet this mandate want to enforce it to
\nthe fullest to simplify their numbers; on the other hand, the
\nlegislators with constituents numbering less than ten percent
\nopposed the regulation.<\/p>\n
Should the regulation be enforced, only the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), United Development
\nParty, Golkar Party and the Indonesian Military\/National Police
\nwill have their own faction.<\/p>\n
Ten other parties, including the National Awakening Party
\n(PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Crescent Star
\nParty (PBB) will likely form a joint faction.<\/p>\n
Of the 100 seats in the provincial legislature, 76 were
\noccupied by the four major factions, while the remaining 24 go to
\nthe other ten factions. The ten factions will likely form two
\njoint factions, as is mandated under the regulation.<\/p>\n
A special committee to discuss the internal rulings, set up in
\nMay, has endorsed the idea.<\/p>\n
Major factions also agreed to maintain the current legislative
\nleadership under Eka Santosa of the PDI Perjuangan faction,
\nbecause he was elected unanimously during its 1999 plenary
\nsession. At the time, minority factions called for a re-election
\nunder the regulation.<\/p>\n
Yudi Widiana Adhia of the Justice Party faction and Asep
\nRachmat Kurnia of PAN faction walked out of the plenary session
\nin protest of what they considered the factions' arrogance.<\/p>\n
The special committee's recommendations \"show major factions'
\narrogance,\" while forcing minority groups to accept legislation
\nthey oppose, Yudi said.<\/p>\n
The two legislators threatened to file suit in State
\nAdministrative Court against the special committee, citing what
\nthey characterized as unfair recommendations.<\/p>\n
Asep argued that, under the government regulation, it would be
\nall but impossible for minority parties to fight for their own
\npolitical constituents in provincial legislatures unduly
\ndominated by major parties.<\/p>\n
Simply put, \"the four major factions will dominate all
\ndecisions that will be made by the legislature,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/factions-give-parties-a-voice-of-legislature-1447893297",
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