All politics is local

All politics is local, the late speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tip O'Neil once said. This maxim applies, or should apply, equally in a new democratic Indonesia as it has for a long time in O'Neil's homeland which has more than two centuries of democratic tradition. The world may have turned into one big global community, but at the end of the day, what matters to most of us is what happens within our neighborhood.

With that in mind, it is sad to note that the ongoing elections of the representatives of the newly established dewan kelurahan (subdistrict councils) in Jakarta have received scant publicity by the local media (including yours truly). Here is an election that no resident can afford to be indifferent about, for the council is the one forum where people can really have a say and influence what happens in their own neighborhood.

The Jakarta city administration last year enacted Bylaw No. 5 which calls for the establishment of subdistrict councils. The goal is to give communities a greater say, or at least some influence, over development in their own neighborhoods. The councils, comprising representatives elected by the community, will act as a bridge between people and the subdistrict offices, which are the lowest level of the city administration. According to the bylaw, the council, elected on a five-yearly basis, represents the aspirations of the community and helps explain public policies to the community.

In the past week, the 265 subdistrict offices in Jakarta have been busy looking for candidates to sit in these new councils, which the city administration had expected to be formed by the end of the month. But with such short notice, many of the neighborhood units have so far failed to come up with any candidates. And because of the little publicity that such a democratic process at grassroots level is getting from the capital's media, the election and selection process has escaped the attention of most residents.

The lack of attention also reflects growing public apathy toward political processes in this country. Who can blame them? Looking at the endless bickering among the nation's political leaders, many people have been put off by political developments in this country, certainly at the national level.

The election of subdistrict councils however presents a golden opportunity for residents of Jakarta to make a difference, not about national politics, but more about what happens in their own immediate neighborhood. Here is a forum through which residents can press their demands for better services from their local administrations, to make their neighborhood safer, cleaner and essentially a better place to live in.

Whether or not this was the original intention, the bylaw marks the first step to develop democracy at the grassroots level. Sure there are shortcomings in the regulations and their implementation, but they are all part of the long learning curve required when practicing democracy.

Some subdistrict chiefs, in their efforts to meet the Jan. 31 deadline to establish the councils, have taken the short cut of selecting representatives, bypassing credible election processes. Other subdistrict chiefs, as reported by the Jakarta City Council, have been making house calls seeking endorsement for representatives they have picked personally. Thankfully, the city administration has now removed the deadline and let the neighborhood units take their time in forming the councils.

Bylaw No. 5 falls short of truly empowering the councils. These councils are essentially watchdogs without teeth. They can monitor activities of the subdistrict offices but cannot remove or reprimand subdistrict chiefs. To this day, there is still the strong impression that subdistrict offices are set up to represent the rulers and not to serve the community. Some day, soon, with the establishment of subdistrict councils, the subdistrict administration should become subservient to the community's needs.

The establishment of the new councils is a step in the right direction in giving power back to the community. It would be a sad tragedy if residents of Jakarta remain indifferent and fail to participate in an election which is important to their most immediate interests: their neighborhood.