Less is more for PDI legislators, say analysts

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) may have more leverage in the House of Representatives after Oct. 1 because its 11 members may be too few to ensure smooth decision making, analysts said yesterday.

Riswandha Imawan and Indria Samego said the PDI's inadequate representation meant that it could disrupt the House's decision- making process because nothing could be decided without its approval.

"The PDI will be small in size, but have huge influence in the House. The price of one PDI legislator will equal a horde of legislators from other factions because many decision-making processes will depend on the presence of a PDI representative," Riswandha said.

Final election results released Monday show that the PDI will hold 11 House seats, allowing the party to post a legislator in each of the House's 11 commissions.

This means the PDI may lose its post on the House's leadership board for the first time. A party must have at least 20 legislators for position on the leadership board.

"A PDI legislator is not a super person. He or she may be absent from a House session for health reasons, and the session will be considered invalid," said Riswandha from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University.

The House's internal rules say that a quorum of representatives from all three parties and the Armed Forces is needed for any session in the House and that no decisions can be made without it.

Golkar will remain the strongest party with 325 House seats, the United Development Party will hold 89 seats and the Armed Forces, whose members do not vote, will have 75 seats.

PDI secretary-general Buttu Hutapea said Monday that the party would not take its minimum representation seriously. He said the PDI legislators would be ready to team up with other parties and the Armed Forces.

Political researcher Idria Samego of the state-run National Institute of Science also said that the scarcity of PDI legislators would increase their power.

Indria said the unexpected poll results could lead to a PDI which could hold the House to ransom.

"But such fears will not come true if the House modifies its internal rules to guarantee that a democratic mechanism within the House proceeds without technical barriers," Indria said.

He said the changes should allow PDI legislators to sit on two commissions and let the party have a position on the House leadership board.

Indria said Golkar should initiate the changes not only because it was the most influential party but because it represented more Indonesians.

Golkar's leader in the House, Moestahid Astari, said earlier that the party's legislators were drafting a proposal to change the House rules. He said the party was considering reducing the number of commissions.

Indria said cutting the number of commissions was a bad idea because the 11 commissions properly represented national issues.

He said a merger of commissions would adversely affect the quality of deliberations.

Riswandha said that, with rule changes apparently unavoidable, the Armed Forces was expected to improve its sociopolitical role in the House.

"The Armed Forces should stay neutral amid Golkar-PPP rivalry and be prepared to lend support to the PDI, so that there will not be a dictator of the majority and tyranny of the minority," he said. (amd)