Compromising the House

Compromising the House

A great Indonesian statesmen, M. Natsir, some five decades ago
warned his fellow parliamentarians that democracy could survive
if the bonds of trust with the people were maintained.

If only today we had but a few statesmen of his caliber in the
legislature.

The motives, although interesting, are irrelevant. The reality
is that for nearly three weeks our current House of
Representatives has been missing -- without action.

Whatever the reasons, there is no excuse for further
suspending legislative activities. The triviality, which the
source of the dispute is widely perceived to be, is eroding
public confidence.

Over 113 million people turned out to vote in their belief in
democracy. Instead of carrying the faith of voters toward a
debate of some greater good, the progeny of that election has
chosen to engage in petty disputes over commission seats, causing
an impasse that has created a backlog of key legislation and the
postponement of important decisions.

Many may wonder why they bothered to vote on that momentous
Monday morning in April.

We are reminded of Natsir's peer, Sjafruddin Prawiranegara,
who foretold of this niggling inclination of politicians: "When
seats and positions of power becomes an end and not a means, then
democracy lapses into coalitions. Eventually coalitions become
consumed in anarchy".

We have not quite reached that stage yet. But without
common sense, our representative democracy is inching toward
chaos.

The turn of the week brought about encouraging developments as
both sides showed signs of mellowing. A meeting between the two
opposing coalitions Tuesday afternoon may have begun to close the
divide, but there is no assurance that the House will now set to
work.

We believe it is time to say, once again, "enough is enough".

Some convictions are certainly worth dying for. Sadly, what's
at stake in this prolonged impasse at the House, for most of the
113 million voters, is not even worth waking up for!

The dispute over the division of House faction heads is
nothing more than a selfish battle to augment the individual
power of respective factions.

Our legislators seem to forget the three most important facts
of life in this democratic polity: First, that in politics, just
as in life, there are successes and defeats. But a sense of
accomplishment can still be attained even in the latter. One does
not jeopardize the whole process just because a particular party
lacks insufficient seats.

Second, once again, as in life, politics is about compromise.
Mature statesmen understand that legislations, regulations,
policies or decrees, are never passed without some concessions.

Third, and most important, is the fact that the current
balance of power is the result of an election. It is a direct
reflection of the voting intent of the true stakeholders of this
democracy.

Minority parties are a minority due to the simple reality that
they did not receive sufficient support from the electorate.
Unless they can muster an expansive majority coalition they
should not impose their will on the process. Just as the
President is currently learning to govern in a democratic state,
legislators should learn how to be a good opposition.

In many ways, we should not be surprised at this troubling
turn of events. It was anticipated that the House would be
fractious, with no party occupying more than 23 percent of the
seats.

It does not help if our elected representatives are tokens of
the party that ushered them in, and not the agents of the voting
masses. Legislators do not have political independence and are
bound to the call of their party bosses.

We also knew that there would be a sharp learning curve for
legislators in this wholly new political environment. Mohammad
Hatta, one of the founding fathers of the nation, in 1956 pointed
out that, for a nation that is not accomplished in the exercise
of democracy, "some practice" is required.

However, we believe that three weeks is quite enough time for
House members to practice, and to learn to be recalcitrant
politicians. It's now time for them to start practicing to be
legislators.