A House divided

As the nation clamors for change, the conduct currently being exhibited by the honorable members of our national legislature, the House of Representatives, does not bode well for the immediate future of democracy in Indonesia.

In one of the latest developments in the political tug-of-war that has been going on for days in that exalted all of the people's representatives, the Nationhood Coalition -- comprising the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) plus three other factions of lesser individual clout -- has taken it upon itself to appoint its own members as chairmen or deputy chairmen of the various House commissions. Obviously, the support of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction has been valuable help for the coalition in attaining its target of dominating the entire House and deserves to be rewarded.

This grab for power, needless to say, has drawn the protest of the coalition's rival People's Coalition, which comprises five minority parties, including the Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which, though small, recorded a phenomenal rise in popularity in the recent legislative elections. The People's Coalition, which has boycotted the sessions, has remained steadfast in its rejection of the decisions that were taken by the Assembly in their absence -- and in defiance, it says, of an accord reached earlier by all the House's factions.

While attendance is not obligatory under House standing orders, all the moves and counter moves that have so far been made by both sides in this struggle clearly demonstrate the disregard that our honorable people's representatives seem to have for the interests of the people whom they are supposed to represent. Little, if anything, seems to have changed in this respect since the days when the dictatorial New Order regime was in power, from the late 1960s up to the present.

In the meantime, while the impasse continues, the House's angry reaction to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's letter retracting an earlier one sent by his predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, accepting the resignation of the chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI), Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, gives reason for even more concern. By abrogating Megawati's letter -- which the House had already approved in an earlier session -- the President is showing contempt of the legislature, members of the Nationhood Coalition say.

Calls have been made by several of its House members to use its right of interpellation and summon the President to explain his action before the legislature. No one, of course, disputes the right of the House to summon officials, from Cabinet ministers up to the President, and demand clarification on policy decisions that they feel are inconsistent with the nation's interests. It is the motive behind the action, however, that has raised eyebrows across the nation.

Although observers have long foreseen the hurdles that the Nationhood Coalition seem at present to be busy putting in the President's path, observers worry about the possibility of a real confrontation building up between the President on one side and the legislature on the other.

Admittedly, the possibility of the current climate of mutual resentment in the House growing into a storm that could endanger the government or the nation's stability appears at this point to be quite remote. Nevertheless, even a standoff in the current less-than-amicable relationship between the House and the chief executive can have serious consequences for a nation hungry for change and betterment.

Under the circumstances, the best that Indonesians can do is hope that good statesmanship will prevail on both sides. The President must realize that cooperation with the legislature is a necessity. The factions in the House, on the other hand, would do well to keep in mind that Susilo is the first Indonesian president to be handpicked by the bearers of the nation's sovereignty: the people. Obviously, it would not be in the best interest of the future of the political parties represented to appear to be working to upset the will of the people.