Analysts see little change in City Council

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.