Shake-up expected of House leadership
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives will soon decide on whether to approve a proposed reshuffle of its leadership and the chairmanships of 13 House commissions, according to Speaker Agung Laksono.
Agung said that a House plenary session was scheduled for Nov. 14 to decide on any changes.
"The solution to the issue will depend on the factions and their own parties. If most of the factions want to revamp the House leadership based on the principle of proportionality, then Law No. 22/2003 on the Structure of the People's Consultative Assembly, House of Representatives, and Provincial, Municipal and Regental Legislatures must first be amended as it stipulates that the (current) House leadership's term of office is five years," Agung said at a press conference on Monday.
If the principle of proportionality were to be applied, Agung and House Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno would retain their positions while Muhaimin Iskandar, a deputy representing the National Awakening Party (PKB), and Ma'arif, representing the Reform Star faction (FBR), would have to give their positions to replacements nominated by the United Development Party (PPP) and Democrat Party (PD) factions.
Agung is also deputy chairman of the Golkar Party, while Soetardjo hails from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP).
Golkar, which is chaired by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, holds 128 seats in the 550-member House, while the PDI-P holds 109 seats. Meanwhile, the PPP and PD respectively hold 58 and 55 seats, which make them the third and fourth largest parties in the House.
The current disproportionate composition of the House leadership was the result of the leadership election held when the House was divided into two major coalitions last October: one jointly led by Golkar and the PDI-P, whose chief mission was to help the PDI-P's Megawati Soekarnoputri win the run-off in the 2004 presidential election.
But after Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won the country's first direct presidential election, and his Vice President Jusuf Kalla later took the chairmanship of Golkar, the coalition broke apart as Kalla forced Golkar to join the Susilo-led camp.
Entering the second year of the House's five-year official term, a number of major factions have questioned the disproportionate composition of the House leadership in an apparent attempt to fight for strategic positions for the next four years.
The PDI-P and PPP factions have confirmed that they would support the proposed shake-up in the House leadership and commission chairmanships during the plenary meeting.
PDI-P faction chairman Tjahjo Kumolo said his faction would propose electing one more deputy to the House speaker to allow a democratic decision-making mechanism in the House leadership.
He said that under the current structure comprising a speaker and three deputy speakers, the decision-making process was difficult, particularly when House leaders wanted to vote on particular issues.
The chairman of the PPP faction, Endin Sofihara, said he was optimistic that most factions would support the proposed leadership reshuffle in order to refresh the legislature and help strengthen it so that it could optimally perform its duties.
"If most factions accept the proposed principle of proportionality, the House will spend only a number of weeks reviewing certain chapters of the legislation, and the leadership shake-up could be carried out by the end of this month or early in December," he said.
In addition to deputy speakerships, the PPP and PD factions also have their eyes on a number of commission chairmanships.