Our public representatives in the House need to grow up

Our public representatives in the House need to grow up

The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

M. Akil Mochtar, a member of the House of Representatives
honor council, recently shared his views with The Jakarta Post's
Kurniawan Hari about the ongoing clash between opposing camps in
the House. Here are the excerpts.

Question: How do you feel about the ongoing clashes in the
House?

Answer: I think the most important thing is consolidation and
structural reform. Reform must benefit the people and the
democratization process, not the interests of political parties.
It must be perceived as structural reform so that the House
function in supervision, legislation and budget drafting can take
place properly.

Regulations that can create the opportunity for corruption and
collusion must be scrapped. In the future, the legislators must
improve themselves so that they can produce quality legislation.
The problem is that the politicians are always trapped in power
struggles.

What can the legislators do to improve their performance,
let's say, in the next five years?

The House's standing orders must be assessed for the benefit
of the people. The legislators must be made independent and
autonomous. We see that the House cannot make decisions because
the absence of some factions.

We must revise the standing orders so that such an incident
will not take place in the future. A House faction is only a
forum of legislators. It must not be given authority to take the
plenary meeting hostage.

Do you think the situation in the House will affect its
relations with the executive body?

I think the polarization of House factions is due to the
arrogance of the legislators grouped under a certain coalition.
If we are aware that we are here to serve the people, this
polarization will not take place.

This is a process. I do not think that if all factions secure
commission chairmanship posts, the situation will be any better.
The problem is the common sense of the legislators.

We all know that the current government is a legitimate
administration. It carries out its duties based on the existing
laws and regulations, so is the House. The legislators are tasked
to supervise the government. Therefore the government must not
underestimate the legislators.

Given the fact that the government has won the support of few
political parties in the House, it must not make political
maneuvers. For example, recently some political leaders reported
to the President at his home in Cikeas. It is unnecessary. The
President is not our superior.

Regarding the move of some legislators to exercise the right
to summon the President, I don't thing my fellow legislators
fully understand the procedure. Why don't they just use the right
to question the President? Other processes may follow, the final
result being impeachment. The keyword is that we -- the President
and the legislators -- must mature.

We know there is still some contention among the House
factions. How will it be settled?

The plenary meeting and the selection of commission
chairpersons was legitimate. All 10 factions have submitted their
representatives for the commissions. This means that the five
factions (the People's Coalition) have recognized the outcome.

This is only a process. Political maturity is required. We
observe that our fellow politicians are still not mature.

We called on the five factions to participate in the
commission meetings. We will remind members of the five factions
that their rejection of the commissions' leadership can be
brought to the honorary council as it can be categorized as a
violation of the code of ethics. As a member of the honorary
council, I will continue monitoring the process.

What if members of the five factions refuse to attend meetings
in the House?

There will not be a problem. We will continue to work as
legislators. If they keep on refusing to attend the meeting, the
public will examine the performance of their representatives. It
has been almost 30 days since the inauguration.

The legislators will receive their first salary despite their
low productivity. I think me must start work and think about the
future.

We have to focus and prepare for Idul Fitri, Christmas and the
New Year. Usually, the prices of foodstuffs soar and this will
place more burden on the people.