The House and the PDI election debacle

The House and the PDI election debacle

The drastic decrease in votes obtained by the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) in the recent election is likely to
complicate the procedures and working mechanism of our
legislative institutions, including the House of Representatives.

These complications are due to the fact that the PDI is only
allotted 11 seats in the House. This is not enough for the PDI
faction to be represented in all of the legislature's commissions
and in the various other House agencies as well, as is needed
under current House regulations.

But, as we see it, any complications that may arise due to the
limited number of PDI representatives in the House will not
necessary have to upset, much less impede, the House procedures
and mechanisms. Those internal regulations governing procedures,
mechanisms and other aspects of the legislature's functions, are,
after all, objects which cannot be changed. They are not ends in
themselves, but merely means to achieve the ends intended.

In this context, the drastic reduction in the number of PDI
seats in the House of Representatives may perhaps be regarded as
an opportunity to bring the House regulations in line with the
needs of the times, in the sense that efforts can be made to see
to it that the national legislature that is to be formed as a
result of the 1997 general election will be able to operate with
greater efficacy than before.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta