New faces dominate the House<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After more than two month's of delay, the General Elections
\nCommission (KPU) announced on Tuesday the final results of the
\nApril 5 legislative elections, along with the names of the new
\nlegislators who will sit in the House of Representatives (DPR)
\nand the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) for the 2004-2009
\nterm.<\/p>\n
The decision confirmed last month's rulings by the
\nConstitutional Court in a number of electoral disputes.<\/p>\n
Following what many say is the unsatisfactory performance of
\nthe current crop of House members, there is some hope that things
\nmight improve as 60 percent of the new legislators announced by
\nthe KPU are freshmen.<\/p>\n
The Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS),
\nwho took 56 and 45 seats respectively, supplied the largest
\nbatches of newcomers.<\/p>\n
Among the new faces were a number of pop culture celebrities,
\nsuch as television soap opera actor Dede Macan Yusuf (PAN), and
\ncomedian Qomar and former pageant queen Angelina Sondakh of the
\nDemocratic Party.<\/p>\n
Old faces include Theo Sambuaga and Paskah Suzetta of the
\nGolkar Party, and Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno and Sukowaluyo
\nMintoraharjo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-
\nP).<\/p>\n
The Commission will announce the composition of the provincial
\nand local legislative councils by Sept. 30 at the latest after
\nfully considering the rulings of the Constitutional Court in the
\nelectoral disputes that came before it.<\/p>\n
KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsudin said on Tuesday that the 550
\nHouse and 128 DPD candidates would be sworn in as members of the
\nnew bicameral legislature on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n
Among the parties affected by the Constitutional Court rulings
\nwas the Golkar Party, which had taken 128 seats according to the
\nKPU count. However, it lost one of these seats to the Pioneer
\nParty in the West Irian Jaya electoral district. The upstart
\nDemocratic Party also lost a seat to the National Mandate Party
\n(PAN) in Central Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Also in West Irian Jaya, the Christian-based Prosperous Peace
\nParty (PDS) took the only seat that had been won by the United
\nDemocratic Nationhood Party (PPDK).<\/p>\n
In the DPD, the KPU ruled that the seat previously awarded to
\nthe younger brother of Amien Rais, Dahlan Rais, should be given
\nto Achmad Chalwani.<\/p>\n
The KPU will forward the list of the new House and Regional
\nRepresentatives Council members to the State Secretary for the
\napproval of the President in three day's time. The President is
\nexpected to issue a presidential decree sometime before Oct. 1
\nformally appointing the new legislators.<\/p>\n
Analyst Daniel Sparingga of the Surabaya, East Java-based
\nAirlangga University said the performance of legislators did not
\ndepend on their experience. \"What counts the most is ... their
\ncommitment to heeding the views of their constituents,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-faces-dominate-the-house-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}