Councillors shoulder great hopes of all Jakartans

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The April 5 legislative election found Jakartans differing from the rest of the country over who should represent them in the legislative body.

Nationwide, the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) received the most votes and together controlled the House of Representatives.

In Jakarta, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the newly established Democratic Party (PD) ruled the City Council by gaining 24 percent and 21.33 percent of the 75-seat council, respectively.

The result, of course, changed the face of the council, which previously was dominated by PDI-P, the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

The PKS managed to win the people's hearts and minds by campaigning on the promise to fight collusion, corruption and nepotism. While the Democratic Party gained the people's favor thanks to presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's image as a person who would bring change to the country. Susilo was eventually elected as the country's sixth president.

The results of the legislative election indicated a strong desire for change among voters in Jakarta, according to economist Emil Salim. The former minister during the Soeharto era pointed to the success of the PKS' anti-corruption campaign.

Political observer Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said Jakartans were fed up with rampant corruption and wanted a change.

He also said many residents had switched parties as a result of intensive media reports on irregularities in the City Council.

"Voters punished politicians who failed to perform well by not re-electing them," Indria said.

One of several high-profile corruption cases this year involved former City Council speaker Agung Imam Sumanto, who was alleged to have been involved in a Rp 1 billion (US$111,111) fraud case.

However, Agung walked free when without explanation Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani "corrected" his status from that of a suspect to a witness.

Such stories made voters think twice during the election. As a result, they have particularly high hopes for the new lawmakers they voted into office on the promise of cleaning up the city.

Most of the new councillors are relatively young, idealistic and well educated.

While, after only four months in office, it is too early to judge just how effective these councillors are, two points must be taken into account.

First, there were vote buying allegations during the election of the new speaker of the council.

The allegations arose after PKS candidate Ahmad Heriyawan lost the election to Ade Surapriatna of Golkar Party. Before the election, the PKS and the Democratic Party had signed an agreement to support Heriyawan.

The incident prompted an internal investigation of eight councillors from the Democratic Party. There have been no announcements on the results of the investigation, despite the Democratic Party's earlier promise to expel the councillors from the party.

Second, the council needed about three months, longer than the previous council, to establish commissions. During those three months, councillors were busy quarreling over the commission leadership posts.

Political observer Smita Notosusanto of the Center for Electoral Reform said the electoral system, in which people vote directly for legislative candidates from their neighborhoods, would play an important role in monitoring the performance of the people's representatives.

"Criticism by the voters of poorly performing councillors will be effective in encouraging them to improve. If they ignore the critics, they will not be re-elected in the next election," she said.

Council's composition after the 1999 and 2004 legislative elections

No Parties The 2004 elections ! The 1999 elections

Seats ! % ! Seats ! % --------------------------------------------------------------- 1. PKS 18 ! 24.00 ! 4 ! 4.7 2. PD 16 ! 21.33 ! - ! - 3. PDI-P 11 ! 14.66 ! 30 ! 35.29 4. Golkar Party 7 ! 9.33 ! 8 ! 9.41 5. PPP 7 ! 9.33 ! 13 ! 15.29 6. PAN 6 ! 8.00 ! 13 ! 15,29 7. PDS 4 ! 5.33 ! - ! - 8. PKB 4 ! 5.33 ! 3 ! 3.53 9 PBR 2 ! 2.66 ! - ! - 10. PBB 0 ! - ! 2 ! 2.35 11. PP - ! - ! 1 ! 1.17 12. PKP - ! - ! 1 ! 1.17 13. PBI - ! - ! 1 ! 1.17 14. Police/Military - ! - ! 9 ! 10.58* --------------------------------------------------------------

Total 75 100 ! 85 ! 100 --------------------------------------------------------------

Source: KPUD Jakarta Notes: - PDS: The Prosperous Peace Party - PKB: The National Awakening Party - PBR: The Reform Star Party - PBB: The Crescent Star Party - PP : The United Party - PBI: The Indonesian Unity in Diversity Party - * : Appointed seats