Empowering the House

As some observers have remarked, last week's call by House of Representatives Speaker Wahono for legislators to be more courageous and dare to criticize the government, may hold nothing new.

Nevertheless, under the present circumstances, his words deserve to be taken seriously by all of us who have the well- being of this nation at heart.

As Wahono said, the House -- Indonesia's national legislature which commemorated its 52nd anniversary on Friday last week -- provides a strategic link between public aspirations and government policies.

The House, in other words, is there to ensure that the people's wishes are properly rendered into law, or government policy, and to minimize the possibility of disturbances resulting from discrepancies between the two.

Over past years, there has been a growing number of complaints that our national legislature has not lived up to its tasks -- either as a law-making body or as an overseer of government policies -- as spelled out by the constitution.

The growing number of "protest delegations", which have visited the House in previous years and the more recent unrest occurring with unnerving frequency in a number of regions, seem to give credence to such criticism.

With people feeling that they are deprived of an effective channel to express their wishes, or their discontent, obviously the only way that remains open to them is to publicly air their grievances. Sometimes this course of action leads to violence.

It is interesting in this context to note Wahono's remarks that the House's efforts to channel public complaints would heavily depend on the government's willingness to respond.

For the near future, at least, Wahono said the House might not be able to empower itself, despite the fact that it had amended its internal rules to make it easier for legislators to exercise their rights. Standing in the way of the House is a political culture that provides no room for different opinions.

"If paternalism, feudalism, uneasiness ... are maintained, our painstaking efforts to amend the internal rules will not (result) in (the improvement of) ourselves," Wahono said.

Again, appropriate as they may be, we have heard those arguments before. What gives them extra weight this time, though, is the pivotal conditions in which we are now living.

With the nation being challenged to confront a dawning global era of free trade, there is very little time left to ready ourselves for life in a fiercely competitive world that is virtually without borders.

The present financial crisis that is shaking the foundations of our regional economies is a strong enough reminder that much remains to be done to put our house in order.

For our efforts to yield the most benefit, Indonesians must work together as an integrated whole. To achieve this, it is necessary that the House of Representatives be fully capable of performing its functions. It must be a worthy counterpart for the government.

Our House may, as yet, not be the ideal national body that one might wish for in order to face the challenges of the new era. But paying serious heed to Wahono's reminder will help put us back on the right track. It is the least we can do for the sake of the well-being of this nation.