Lawmakers or troublemakers?

Lawmakers or troublemakers?

Although the legislature is 56 years old today, this nation
has held only two democratic general elections, in 1955 and 1999.
The era between 1959 and 1998 was the long, dark years of
authoritarian rule under presidents Sukarno and Soeharto, who
both turned all democratic values upside down.

So, history has given us very little experience in the
application of democracy. And, sadly, the two elections failed to
produce a dominant political party or a proper relationship
between the representatives and their constituents. Until now we
still hear the public saying that they do not know who their
representatives are in the House of Representatives. If they
encounter a problem in the community these people increasingly
take to the streets to get their message across or register their
complaints with any faction in the House.

History has also recorded how much time we have wasted on
pampering despots. Sukarno dissolved a democratic parliament but
refused to hold a general election. Soeharto maintained a rubber-
stamp legislature comprised of hand-picked legislators before he
started his series of dirty general elections.

All drafts of new laws were sponsored by Soeharto's regime.
His political machine, the Golkar Party, did not have to busy
itself with the job, while the only two political opposition
parties allowed to exist, the United Development Party (PPP) and
the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), did not have to consider
the matter because their ideas would be killed before they were
conceived.

A positive change occurred between June 1998 and January 2001.
While B. J. Habibie, Soeharto's successor, also sponsored many
bills, the House passed 69 bills into law.

Now, with political stability more promising and the new
government enjoying the support of the legislature instead of
attracting resistance and antagonism, the House is challenged
with relinquishing its recent habits. The House's continued
inaction will be anathema to the struggle for reform and continue
to bog down every activity within and outside the government.