DPD members refuse to form one faction
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Elected members of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) rejected on Tuesday a recommendation by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to group under one faction, arguing that the move would weaken their position in the Assembly.
Irman Gusman said here that grouping the members would reduce DPD into a mere faction like the parties, and thus would meet the same fate as the current Regional Representatives Faction (FUD).
According to the Constitution, DPD members, who are directly elected in the legislative election, are on an equal footing with members of the House of Representatives.
Both the House, which will have 550 elected members, and the DPD, with 128 members, will form the People's Consultative Assembly, the country's highest legislative body.
"If we have to form a faction in the Assembly, then what is the difference between DPD and the current FUD?" asked Irman, a DPD member representing West Sumatra.
Under the current arrangement, the Assembly consists of the House, the FUD and representatives of Interest groups.
DPD member Ihsan Lalembeh from Central Sulawesi concurred, saying that making the DPD a faction in the Assembly would weaken its position vis-a-vis the House.
The draft of the Assembly's standing orders, which will be submitted to its annual meeting scheduled for September, suggests that all Assembly members should be grouped into factions.
Article 14 of the Assembly's draft states that a faction in the Assembly is a group of Assembly members that reflect a configuration of political parties and the DPD. It also says that each and every member of the Assembly member must be a member of a faction.
Irman said House members may group themselves into factions in the Assembly. "But, the DPD will refuse to become a faction," he told The Jakarta Post at the end of a two-day seminar on Tuesday.
Ihsan, meanwhile, said that if the DPD was forced to form a faction, it would group into three groupings -- the western Indonesia faction consisting of DPD members representing Sumatra, Bangka-Belitung and Riau Islands, the central Indonesia faction consisting of Java, Bali and Kalimantan, and the eastern Indonesia faction, which will comprise Sulawesi, Maluku, East and West Nusa Tenggara and Papua.
Separately, Baharuddin Aritonang, an Assembly member who took part in drafting the regulations, said that the stipulation was not rigid.
"It depends on the DPD if they wish to group in one faction or not. We make the draft of the standing orders simply as a guideline. We will not force them (to band in one faction)," he said.
The two-day workshop also discussed candidates who would be elected leaders of the DPD.
Six names featured prominently including Irman, Raja Inal Siregar from North Sumatra, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja from Jakarta, Ginandjar Kartasasmita from West Java, Laode Ida from Southeast Sulawesi, and Asa Machmud from South Sulawesi.
The draft states that the DPD will have a speaker and two deputies.
Article 17 of the draft says DPD leaders should reflect the representation of the three regional divisions -- western, central and eastern Indonesia.