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.