Residents dissatisfied with House performance
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The majority of people living in urban areas across the country are dissatisfied with the House of Representatives (DPR), believing the lawmakers are fighting for either the interests of their political parties or for personal gain, a survey says.
A recent survey by the Center for the Study of Development and Democracy (CESDA) found that 50 percent of 1,250 urban residents surveyed said that House members were fighting for the interests of their political parties only, while another 33 percent believed the lawmakers were interested in furthering their own interests.
"Only 13 percent of people interviewed said that House members fight for the interests of the people," polling coordinator Imam Ahmad said in a press conference here on Thursday.
The polling was done through telephone interviews involving 1,250 people from Sept. 18 through 21 in ten cities across the country -- Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, Surabaya in East Java, Medan in North Sumatra, Palembang in South Sumatra, Denpasar in Bali, Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, Makassar in South Sulawesi, Mataram in West Nusa Tenggara and Jayapura in Papua.
The respondents' educational backgrounds were senior high school or higher, chosen through systematic sampling, with a margin of error of three percent.
The survey also revealed that 72 percent of respondents stated that they were not satisfied with the performance of the House in legislation.
The House has consistently failed to meet legislation deadlines in the last couple of years. In the previous session that run from Aug. 15 till Sept. 26, the House finished deliberating only three of a total 31 bills it had planned to pass. And in the current sitting, which started on Oct. 27 and will end on Dec. 19, the House has targeted passing 54 bills and but has only managed to finish a package of 13 bills on the establishment of new regencies.
At least 68 percent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction over the House's performance in both deliberating the state budget and in supervising the government.
Given the poor performance of the House, most respondents (75 percent) said the lawmakers' monthly salary of Rp 14 million was just too high.
"There is nothing new with the results of this polling. So far, we have been believing that the performance of the House is disappointing. This polling has confirmed it," said Imam.
CESDA researcher Rahadi Wiratama refused to comment on the impact of people's distrust in the House. He simply said that the results reflected the opinion of the urban people.
"If we ask other segments of the society, the results of the polling may be different," he said.