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Rookies, vote-buying haunt the House's future
The General Elections Commission (KPU) will not announce the official results of the April 9 legislative election until May 9
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The General Elections Commission (KPU) will not announce the official results of the April 9 legislative election until May 9. However, ongoing recapitulations of the election results have given a sufficiently clear, if still incomplete, picture of who will win seats in the House of Representatives. The Jakarta Post's Hasyim Widhiarto and Bagus BT Saragih provide an analysis of the matter plus an up-to-date sidebar on the ongoing deals for party coalitions ahead of the July 9 presidential election.
Golkar Party lawmaker Nudirman Munir openly shared his resentment as he cited rampant vote-buying practices that had allegedly cost him his reelection bid in the April 9 legislative election.
The 60-year-old lawyer-turned-politician, who was running as a candidate in the second West Sumatra electoral district, for example, accused another candidate of gathering massive support from voters in exchange for money and a free, full-day visit to local amusement park Minang Fantasy, popularly known as Mifan.
Nudirman said such illegal practices would hamper the performance of the House in the next five-year period.
'Even with my long-time experience as a student activist and lawyer, I sometimes lose my nerve when dealing with Cabinet ministers or top government officials in a [House] meeting. ['¦] I can't imagine how our next lawmakers will perform if many of them are elected because of vote buying and not because of their knowledge and leadership experience,' Nudirman told The Jakarta Post in an interview.
He refused to identify which candidate or political party in his electoral district conducted the vote-buying he has termed 'the Mifan storm'. The Post, however, learned that his allegation seems to refer to 25-year-old Ade Rezki Pratama, the eldest son of influential businessman and Mifan owner Nelson Septiadi who apparently managed to secure one of six House seats offered in the district.
Representing Gerindra Party, Ade garnered more than 70,000 votes in the legislative election, or three times higher than Nudirman. If elected he will also become the youngest lawmaker candidate from West Sumatra.
Contacted separately, Ade quickly denied his successful bid was linked to vote-buying.
'In politics, it is usual to see people make such false accusations,' he said.
More than 6,000 candidates from 12 political parties competed for 560 House seats offered in 77 electoral districts nationwide in this year's legislative election. The majority of quick counts have suggested that the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) won the election with 19 percent of the vote, followed by Golkar with 14 percent and Gerindra with 11 percent, leaving them as the three biggest factions in the House for the upcoming five years.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, the winner of the 2009 election, meanwhile, is competing for the fourth position against the National Awakening Party (PKB) after the two parties managed to garner at least 9 percent of the votes. Trailing behind them are the National Mandate Party (PAN), the NasDem Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), each of whom gathered around 7 percent.
The two last-placed House factions, according to early returns, will go to the United Development Party (PPP) and the Hanura Party, which gathered 6 percent and 5 percent of the votes respectively, as the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI) failed to exceed the parliamentary threshold of 3.5 percent.
Although the KPU will officially announce the legislative election results on Friday, the ongoing vote counting shows that the country's highest legislative body will be managed by a combination of incumbents and non-incumbents for the next five years.
Among the lawmakers who successfully secured their reelection bids are PDI-P secretary-general Tjahjo Kumolo, Golkar treasurer Setya Novanto, former PKS chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid and PPP deputy chairman Hasrul Azwar.
Meanwhile, the new faces in the House come from various backgrounds, including senior party members, like Golkar deputy chairman and former Cabinet minister Fadel Muhammad, Gerindra deputy chairman Fadli Zon and NasDem secretary-general Patrice Rio Capella; academics, like energy expert Kurtubi of NasDem and Banjarmasin-based Achmad Yani University rector Zainul Arifin Noor of the PKB; and public figures, like racing driver Moreno Soeprapto of Gerindra and musician Anang Hermansyah of PAN.
Although they will only start their jobs in October, the anticipated members of the House have begun to struggle against public skepticism following nationwide reports of vote-buying practices and other forms of election fraud that have inevitably called their integrity and competence into question. Even those elected seem to find it difficult to have faith in their anticipated fellow lawmakers.
'How can the future of the law-making body rely on young politicians who sat quietly during campaign events and only said 'Assalammualaikum [peace be with you], my father sends greetings to all of you' in their [campaign] speech,' NasDem politician Akbar Faizal said, criticizing a number of rookie politicians who had apparently used the influence of their parents, who served as regional administration heads, to win their tickets to the House.
The anticipated composition of the next House has also alarmed the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies (PSHK), an NGO monitoring the House's law-making performance.
'During the 2009-2014 period, the House performed poorly in terms of law-making, given the numerous newcomers joining the House at the beginning of the period,' PSHK director Ronald Rofiandri said.
'The next House is also expected to have many newcomers who could pose similar challenges in terms of law-making. Lawmakers with no decent political portfolio can result in poor understanding of the real needs of their constituents, let alone accommodating them during the lawmaking processes.'
In 2013 alone, for example, the legislative body completed the deliberation of only 13 of the 70 bills earmarked for the year.
The House's performance this year, according to Ronald, is expected to be even worse because almost all lawmakers have been busy in the elections, diverting them from their legislative duties. Political trade-offs among politicians also often take place, especially during the deliberation of political bills such as the Legislative Election Law.
Former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD once said lack of competence among lawmakers and horse-trading had resulted in poor quality legislation. In 2012, the court granted 30 judicial review cases, or 31 percent of the 97 cases in total. The court overruled 31 cases, or 32 percent, and rejected 30 cases, or 31 percent, while the remaining six complaints were withdrawn by the plaintiffs.
Unlike Akbar who is pessimistic about the future of the law-making body, incoming lawmaker Ahmad Riza Patria of Gerindra believes the presence of young politicians, especially those from political dynasties, will provide the House with opportunities rather than threats.
'Politicians like Ibas [Dems secretary-general Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, Yudhoyono's youngest son] are bearing the burden of preserving what their family have built [in politics]. This will strongly encourage them to give of their best in their political careers,' he said.
The ongoing vote-count recapitulation has suggested that Gerindra chief patron and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto will likely see his nephew Aryo Djojohadikusumo and niece Rahayu Saraswati joining the party's House faction for the 2014-2019 period.
Meanwhile, PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri has seen three family members ' daughter Puan Maharani, younger brother Guruh Soekarnoputra and brother-in-law Nazaruddin Kiemas ' securing their legislative reelection bids.
Among other members of political families who will join the House are Golkar politician Andika Hazrumi, the eldest son of Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah, Hanura politician Dewie Yasin Limpo, a sister of South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo and Prananda Surya Paloh, the only child of NasDem chairman Surya Paloh.
Riza also said the country's next president must be able to gather support from the majority of the House's 10 factions to ensure that he or she could easily get approval for the implementation of important government policies.
'With full support from a strong [House] coalition, the next president can immediately launch certain policies to address various contentious issues, like the fuel subsidy, at the beginning of his or her term,' he said.
PDI-P presidential candidate Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo is currently the only politician to have secured a ticket after his party last month sealed an alliance with NasDem. The PDI-P and Golkar have also announced their commitment to form a House alliance even though they will field their own candidates in the upcoming presidential election.
Political analyst Arya Fernandes said it was understandable if the rampant reports of foul play during the election undermined public faith in the quality of the country's future legislators.
'One thing that can be done to ensure the legitimacy of the recent legislative election is by carrying out fair hearings into election disputes filed with the Bawaslu [Elections Monitoring Agency] and the Constitutional Court,' he said.
He called on the losing candidates who claimed to have been 'tricked' by the winning candidates to compile evidence and file formal complaints.
