Analysts see little change in City Council
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hopes are high for reform at the City Council, as residents were cheered by the results of the April 5 legislative election ending the domination of the old guard.
Political analysts, however, doubt there will be significant changes in the city after two of the new political powers -- the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and newly formed Democratic Party -- failed to unite in the council speakership election on Sept. 17.
Smita Notosusanto of the Center for Electoral Reform said on Saturday the politicians appeared to have abandoned the promises they made to voters ahead of the election.
"During the election campaign, they promised to fight corruption, collusion and nepotism. They wanted to change the situation. But they are failing to act on this now. Instead, they voted for an old figure, who they criticized during the campaign," she told The Jakarta Post.
A similar comment came from Indria Samego, a senior researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, who said the politicians had betrayed the trust of their supporters, who have demanded change.
The PKS and Democratic Party hold 18 seats and 16 seats respectively in the 75-member City Council.
The other parties with representatives on the City Council are the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (11 seats), the United Development Party (seven), Golkar Party (seven), the National Mandate Party (six), the National Awakening Party (four), the Prosperous Peace Party (four) and the Reform Star Party (two seats).
During the speakership election, Ahmad Heriyawan of the PKS only garnered 30 votes, and was defeated by Golkar Party candidate Ade Surapriatna, who collected 42 votes.
Prior to the election, all 16 councillors from the Democratic Party faction signed an agreement to vote for Heriyawan.
Both Smita and Indria believe vote buying was behind the defeat of Heriyawan.
"I do not see any other motivation besides money (for the election defeat) .... I hope that there will be a thorough investigation into possible corruption," said Indria.
Indria said politicians generally were willing to sell their votes because they wanted to recoup the money they "invested" in their campaigns.
"I think it does not just happen in Jakarta, but also in other regions," he told the Post on Saturday.
With the failure of the PKS and the Democratic Party to live up to their promise to form a coalition for the speakership election, Indria expressed pessimism the City Council could push through any reforms in the council itself or in the city administration.
Smita said voters should closely monitor the performance of their representatives in the legislative bodies.
She said that with the current election system, where people vote for legislative candidates from their neighborhoods, residents had an important role to play in monitoring the actions of their representatives.
"People must remind the councillors to fulfill the promises they made during the election campaign. If people closely monitor their councillors, they will perform better. Otherwise, they will not be reelected in the next election," she said.