Legislators live up to kindergarten tag
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Two, three, then four legislators screamed into their microphones for a chance to speak. Rejected.
Five, six and eventually over a dozen of them raised their hands and screamed at the top of their lungs for attention. Then two impatient legislators strode up to the podium.
"Gentlemen, please go back to your seats. You are in a respectable forum, not at Pasar Klewer," People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais yelled.
Pasar Klewer is a traditional market in Solo, Amien's hometown.
The enraged old legislators turned a deaf ear to the request.
A dozen people or so people from opposing camps stormed up to the podium, barked demands, shoved each other, hurled insults and traded punches.
Coming out of the conference room with a black eye was Marah Simon, an Assembly member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).
The nationally televised boxing session that marred the opening of the Assembly Annual Session was probably the only exciting scene amid an otherwise dreary program.
The anger shown by regional representatives stems from their frustration after their efforts for recognition over the past two years have repeatedly been thwarted.
Their rival factions, notably Golkar and PDIP, fear that the reinstatement of a regional faction would mean they would be forced to lose several seats. In addition, at eight, many consider there to be too many chairmanship seats already in the Assembly. The revived faction would demand yet another, making the Assembly more inefficient.
Many observers have highlighted former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's comments made in the House of Representatives last year, when he compared legislators to kindergarten children who used their emotions rather than their brains.
The incident began when regional representatives demanded their faction be officiated there and then, not in a separate meeting as Amien outlined in his speech.
They simply went ballistic when their request was turned down. Reinstatement of the faction, which was dropped in 1999, has met opposition from several parties, especially the country's largest, PDI Perjuangan and Golkar.
PDIP legislators said they did not start the scuffle. "We came to calm them down," legislator Sophan Sophiaan said.
The incident forced Amien to delay the session for 15 minutes before proceeding with the accountability speech of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was not in attendance when the incident occurred.
Amien apologized to the people of Indonesia for the incident, saying he was shocked and embarrassed. He said it amounted to contempt of the legislature and those involved deserved punishment.
"It should never ever happen again," he said.
The incident, which had undoubtedly entertained millions of TV viewers, also humored political commentator Imam B. Prasodjo.
"They (legislators) set a bad example of how differences should be settled," he said as quoted by Antara.
Embarrassed Golkar legislator Pinantun Hutasoit has his own theory. He said the Assembly had "recruited the wrong politicians".
"Good politicians can accept different ideas without resorting to violence," he said.