H

ail the new House of Representatives lawmakers to be sworn in today in Senayan. Preparations including rehearsals and security measures were completed Tuesday to ensure a smooth ceremony, conducted in the final days of outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s term.

Over the next five years all 560 members will confront public opinion that partially stigmatized them shortly after the quick-count results of the April 9 voting were issues '€“ that most would be lackeys of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, given the majority of seats his Gerindra Party-led coalition controlled, while the rest would be hapless defenders of the future policies and programs of president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo.

A taste of what was to come seemed evident in recent days, most notably in the dramatic passing of the bill on the election of regional heads early Friday; with only one party walking out on the voting, the results swung in the favor of the Gerindra-led Red-and-White Coalition, which also includes United Development Party (PPP), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Golkar Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

The source of hope for citizens is the fact that almost 60 percent of the lawmakers are new faces, though several members of the House known for their good track records were not reelected. The new faces in particular symbolize the new page turned today at the House, as people hope they can beat the odds stacked against them.

 These odds are the legacies they inherit apart from the obligation to toe the party line. These legacies, in the public eye at least, are not rosy: a long list of unfinished bills, images of dozing lawmakers, sparsely filled halls displaying the lack of interest in the very laws the members are responsible for, scandals ending in detention and jail for corruption. Lawmakers'€™ salaries of some Rp 70 million, excluding all allowances and perks '€“ including down payments for a Kijang MPV '€“ was, according their predecessors, not as big as it seemed, given the obligations to political parties and constituents.

This is part of the cloud hanging over new lawmakers. The public anxiety that the new batch of lawmakers will still feel their salary is inadequate as they become obsessed with paying back political debts.

What the new batch can do is at least draw positive energy from much of the public rage today, such as was seen in the expected rallies at the House compound during the inauguration ceremony and the demonstration on Tuesday in front of the Presidential Palace to protest President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s failure to maintain the direct election of regional heads.

Public anger concerns the fact that citizens can now only elect local legislative council members who they must then entrust with electing their governors, regents and mayors. Here at least lies the opportunity to prove the integrity and diligence of lawmakers at all levels, in whatever coalition they sit. This also applies to the new lawmakers suspected of securing their seats through ties with government and political party officials.