Harsh words for MPR from average Joe
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The nine-day Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) ended on Friday with a limited number of successes and failures. It turned out that, aside from the shameful display of fisticuffs on the first day, average citizens were simply apathetic about the event that cost Rp 18 billion (about US$1.5 million) to taxpayers.
Joko Pekik, artist: I don't see any use or the urgency of the session. What did the legislators do? Making new decrees, or amending the constitution? Frankly speaking, I don't care.
What makes me skeptical about the Assembly as a whole is its failure to retract its decree No 25/1966 on Communism. I became one of the decree's victims. (Pekik was imprisoned on suspicion of being a communist activist.)
The history of Indonesia is not determined by the Assembly decrees. The Dutch considered Diponegoro and Soekarno rebels, but they were heroes to Indonesians.
I heard that it costs Rp 18 billion to hold the Annual Session. Where did the money go? If it were 'eaten' by the legislators, you can imagine, that Rp 18 billion would become a huge hill of s#*t.
Dian, 25, civil-servant: Who cared? I did not bother. I no longer trust those legislators. They only work for their own interests or group. I don't like politics. I am getting bored.
Frankly, I do not follow the progress in the Annual Session. Usually, I come home from work at 10.00 p.m. and go to sleep. The Annual Session did not attract me.
The most important thing is that I will no longer vote for the same political party that I did in the 1999 general elections. If only I knew then how that party would perform, I would not have voted for it.
Indra Gunawan, 22, student: It was shameful! I did not watch the day-to-day progress of the Annual Session because the legislators made a mockery of it by their actions.
They exhibited neither professionalism nor democratic examples to the people. I am just not enthusiastic enough to comment on it.
The Assembly promised to be more responsive to the will of the citizenry, but it did not honor that commitment.
Muniri, retired state official: I do not have many to comments. I think one thing that tarnished the Annual Session was the scuffling on the first day.
Well, I was too busy to watch TV coverage of the Annual Session. I had to attend to my kiosk. My customers did not talk about the session either.
Ando Sibarr, 30, employee: Truly, I am tired of seeing the way this country is managed. When I was at college, there were many protests staged against the government. Similar protests are also often staged now. I am tired. Nothing more to say.
The Annual Session was only a theater for white-collar thieves and hoodlums. They have spent taxpayer money, but the result is nothing. Our economy and politics are deteriorating and the quality of life for average people is declining.
I am disappointed also because one of the political parties involved in the fight was the one I chose.
Supardi, a resident of Karet Tengsin area, Central Jakarta: I rarely watched the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly.
I didn't really understand what members of the Assembly were talking about. I only watched with interest when they pushed each other around on the first day of the session.
I agree that the Assembly should have been liquidated or, at the very least, those involved in the brawl should have been dismissed. It is not as if they do anything useful for the community anyway.
It would have been more useful if they had used the costs of the session and donated it to the hundreds of fire victims in our area who badly need shelter.
Tono, an ojek driver: The Assembly should have been disbanded as it is just an extra cost for the taxpayer. The money for the session could have been used to create jobs.
I didn't watch the sessions, except for the brawl among legislators.
Andarini Iswari, 37, a housewife in Bulak Rantai, East Jakarta: I am not aware of the result of the MPR gathering. I knew the MPR members were meeting but I didn't really follow its development. I liked following the country's political issues when former president Abdurrahman Wahid was still in power because of the controversy he caused. Now, political issues are like in the past, under Soeharto's administration, just boring and of little relevance to people's lives.
Yati, a housewife in Kebon Sayur area, Central Jakarta: I am was not interested in the session, except for the brawl among the legislators.
It's more interesting to watch a soap opera. I didn't understand what the legislators were talking about anyway. For me, I really don't care whether the Assembly is liquidated or not.
Margiyanti Suwanto, 42, housewife in Galaksi housing compound in Bekasi: The results of the Annual Session? You are the journalist, don't ask me! That kind of stuff is not really the concern of a housewife. Get serious, I think none of us here know what the results of the session are. I just know about it from television. I watched it once but after that I thought I'd rather watch other programs, which were entertaining. Maybe, those meetings were useful but I just didn't understand them.