'Politicians can always find a loophole'
In a move meant to ensure politicians deliver on their campaign promises, a group of Jakarta residents have asked four City Council candidates to put down their promises in writing. The Jakarta Post talked to residents about whether such social contracts were a feasible way to improve the performance of our representatives and increase public trust in politicians.
Diastomo, 27, is a technician at a private company on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta. He lives in Setiabudi, South Jakarta:
I never heard about social contracts before. But I think there is no guarantee that such contracts can really force the politicians to live up to their promises. Politicians are tricky. They can always find a loophole.
Look at our Cabinet members, the President and the Vice President, who are playing around with the elections law. Instead of taking the required official leave for their political campaigning, they just shorten their working hours to make time for campaigning. That's cheating, isn't it? They clearly place the interests of their political parties above the interests of the public.
Who would monitor the politicians to see whether they did their best to deliver on their promises to voters? If they promised to build a school and then we could see that there was no building, maybe we could sue them for breach of contract. But what if they promised not to lie? How could we get evidence?
Hery Harjanto, 45, is an executive at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. He lives on Jl. Danau Poso in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta:
I agree with the idea of a social contract, demanding that legislative candidates commit to the campaign to eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN).
At the least, such a contract would serve as a legally binding document that could be used by the public to monitor the credibility of politicians.
If politicians who sign a contract are later involved in KKN, the public can ask their respective political parties to dismiss them.
But I am not optimistic that this could eliminate KKN, because there would be no legal sanctions for the violators. It depends on the individual legislative candidates as to whether he or she will commit to such a contract.
--The Jakarta Post