House does not need code of ethics

House does not need code of ethics

Following bribery allegations of some members of the House of
Representatives (DPR), leaders of all four factions of the House
have approved a plan to set up an ethics code for legislators.
Yusril Ihza Mahendra, a constitutional law professor at the
University of Indonesia, discusses the necessity of such a code.

Question: What should be included in the planned code of
ethics to help improve the credibility of House members?

Yusril: I don't think the DPR needs a code of ethics because
its members are not professionals like journalists or medical
doctors. DPR members are officials elected by citizens to
represent their interests. They, therefore, have to do their jobs
in accordance with laws and other regulations.

Q: So, you think efforts of the House leaders to formulate a code
of ethics would be meaningless?

Y: Useless, yes. If the DPR had a code of ethics, who would apply
sanctions against legislators violating it? As a comparison, if a
journalist violates the journalistic code of ethics, the honorary
council of the Indonesian Journalist Association would decide a
punishment for him or her. Would there be any institution which
could apply sanctions against DPR members? So, I do not see the
use of a code of ethics for DPR members.

Q: What rules should the DPR establish to control the conduct of
its members?

Y: None. There have been laws and other regulations that they
have to comply with in carrying out their jobs. The most
important thing is enforcing those laws and regulations. If there
are legislators involved in bribery while deliberating bills, for
example, the Criminal Act would be enough to take action against
them. Just try them at court and enforce the law. So, the problem
has nothing to do with any code of ethics but it concerns the
law.

If a legislator's conduct brings any disgrace to his or her
faction, the faction or party to which he or she belongs can
recall that legislator.

Q: DPR leaders are also looking for ways to strengthen their
influence over the government to make its supervision more
effective. What do you think about that?

Y: That's good because, at least, they have shown a commitment to
do things better. It is too early for us to evaluate their jobs
now since the House members only began their term of office two
months ago.

Q: If there is an impression among the public that the House is
weaker than the government, is it because the quality of its
members are inferior or because government officials are too
arrogant?

Y: That problem is very complicated and cannot be solved in a
short period of time. If we want to improve the performance of
the House, we would have to make revisions from the very
beginning. The method of general elections and the law on the
structures and the positions of the People's Consultative
Assembly, the House of Representatives and local legislative
councils, for example, need revision. There are many things that
force the DPR to perform its tasks below its optimum capacity.

If there is any effort to improve its performance, it would be
just a measure to overcome problems caused by loopholes of some
regulations.

Q: What are the weaknesses of our method of general elections and
how should we improve it?

Y: The current proportional system of elections using pictures
(as symbols of the elected parties) does not clearly show which
of the listed candidates would really become members of the DPR.
It is also not clear that DPR members are representing the voting
people.

I, therefore, have long suggested that general elections be
based on a district system, in which voters would directly elect
their representatives from their own districts.

The district method would better guarantee that the elected
candidates would really represent the voting people. Furthermore,
tendency towards nepotism would diminish because DPR members are
directly elected by the people.

For the first time, a test could be conducted by combining
both the proportional and the district methods. The proportional
method, for instance, could be conducted at regencies and the
district method at mayoralties. By so doing, we could compare
which of the two methods would be more appropriate for our
nation. (riz)