Was it worth the effort?

Most of the lawmakers assembled for a little over a week in Jakarta for the Annual Session of the nation's supreme policy- making body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), would certainly resent being labeled ineffective; nor is it entirely fair to say that the session that ended yesterday was a total waste of time, energy and tax-payers' money. After all, the lawmakers in the MPR can point to some tangible progress made in their deliberations.

For example, there is the rather grandiose, even if hazy, concept of "Vision 2020", which the Assembly passed to serve as a policy guideline for the government and the nation to achieve prosperity within the next 20 years. What "Vision 2020" envisions is nothing less than achieving national unity, establishing a democratic political system and a productive and fair economic system, establishing a civilized social and cultural system, developing qualified human resources and countering the negative impacts of globalization -- all within the time span of those two decades.

Also -- and on a more substantial plane -- there is the agreement in principle to transform the MPR from the all-powerful agglomeration of elected party representatives and appointed legislators that it is at present into a bicameral system consisting of all elected members and regional representatives to make for a more publicly accountable parliament.

On the question of direct presidential elections, however, the progress was partial -- that is to say, there has been agreement on the principle of direct presidential election without the Assembly having been able to bridge differences on details such how to proceed next in the event the presidential and vice- presidential candidates fail to win an outright majority of votes. The question was deferred for debate in the Assembly's upcoming session next year.

Thus, once again, it is not entirely fair to say that this year's annual session of the MPR achieved nothing. Still, given the crisis situation the nation is currently in, the question of whether the session was worth the expenditures of time, energy and, especially, money persists. Overall, it must be said that the nation had expected a good deal more from their top legislators.

For example, the global situation has been drastically changed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States and the ensuing war in Afghanistan. As a result, the global economy is experiencing a serious downturn with equally serious consequences for Indonesia. None of these pressing issues were addressed by the MPR, no suggestions or policy guidelines for tackling the economy in this time of crisis were adopted. The question of constitutional reform is left dangling.

Given the opportunities that were missed, the answer to the question raised above could well be in the negative. The apathy with which most average Indonesians have greeted the MPR's annual session could well reflect the general feeling prevailing in the community: the money could have been better spent elsewhere, where it is needed.