Residents dissatisfied with House performance
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.