Councillors shoulder great hopes of all Jakartans

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