TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Rebuking uninvited guests

It was Prof

Tsani Annafari (The Jakarta Post)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Fri, May 4, 2012

Share This Article

Change Size

Rebuking uninvited guests

I

t was Prof. Edmond Jouve of Sorbonne University who harshly criticized the silliness of our House of Representatives’ lawmakers who visited Paris in 2007 to study state ministry and state advisory legislation.

He just could not comprehend why our honorable House members wasted so much of the state budget to visit France, which obviously had a very different state administration system. The professor concluded that the visit was basically useless.

This year, amid the country’s problems of the oil price subsidy and budget efficiency, again, the state budget is paying for the costly visit of some lawmakers to Scandinavian countries, including Sweden, to study gender equality laws and human right issues.

While Scandinavian countries are perhaps a relevant destination for the purpose of the visit, I have some important remarks:

First, I believe that no country is willing to officially discuss the failures in their legislation or system. Therefore only “good news” will be learned from such a visit.

It would be much more efficient if we invited relevant experts, either academics or former high-ranking officials, to come to Indonesia to share their experience as they are usually more frank and objective in addressing the issues. They could give a comprehensive lecture to Indonesian lawmakers. Local counterparts, for example local academics, could also be invited to give interactive analysis and discourse.

Second, a short official visit is only a snapshot in addressing an issue. In fact, most laws, policies and regulations often need longer observation and practical experience that are usually only available in a study format such as a book or dissertation. In addition, there is also the so-called tacit knowledge which often can only be observed by those who enact or live under the law.

Such knowledge is typically abundant among Indonesian citizens who live in the relevant country, including students. They can make personal comparisons as Indonesians who live with such legislation. Therefore, hearing their voice is often useful. This can be efficiently revealed through unofficial conversations in social media or mailing lists.

Third, each lawmaker has the right to have some experts or advisors who are paid for out of the state budget. Therefore, they should be able to provide them with input. These people should have good international networking and Internet skills so they can use digital resources and social networking to gather the knowledge. Otherwise, they are paid for nothing.

In addition, each political party usually also has a think-tank unit which should be aware of and have the resources to do the policy analysis representing the political party’s views. This should provide House members with adequate perspective when formulating any legislation.

Last, it is widely known that most of our House members lack foreign language skills as it is not a requirement of the job. Therefore they always need an interpreter. As a result, there is always something “missing in translation”.

Therefore, for budget efficiency, there should be a policy that requires those who are assigned to make an official visit abroad to be able to speak at least English, except in specific missions, i.e. academic experts, or on an art or sports mission. Otherwise it will only be a waste of tax payers’ money.

After all, the most important priority for the House is to increase its commitment and sense of crisis. Paying a visit during a public holiday to another country is an indication of budget abuse. They should be aware of the fact that public trust in the House and politicians has nose-dived and in the long run could harm democracy in the country.

They should know that the budget allocated for their visits could cover the costs of study of many PhD students abroad or build more classrooms for schoolchildren for the benefit of the whole country.

But Indonesian students should not necessarily rebuke these shameless House members through sensational actions. They should instead start to build a cluster of knowledge based on the advantages of the country in which they reside.

Students in Sweden, for instance, can develop a cluster of knowledge on gender equality, taxation, the environment and public welfare systems so that when our country, including lawmakers, needs information and analysis the students can fulfill that need.

Our embassy should also play a more active role on this issue. The Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland Djoko Susilo bravely said no to a visit from lawmakers. We need more envoys to follow suit, especially if all the information that our lawmakers require can be easily accessed through research in the Internet.

Without such measures, lawmakers will continue misusing their budget to satisfy their lavish desires and deprive the poor of their basic rights.

The writer is a PhD student at Chalmers Tekniska Hogskola, Gothenburg, Sweden.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.