W

hen the circus leaves, the whole town would normally be saddened by it. This time around however, we should feel relieved, for the political circus we have been watching for much of the past fortnight in Jakarta finally ended this week. Hopefully, the political animals that were part of the show will settle down and start some serious work.

The election of the leadership of the People'€™s Consultative Assembly (MPR) ended the inaugural sessions for the national legislatures, made up of politicians chosen in the April general elections. The House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) had already picked their leaders the previous week. These are our representatives for the next five years.

These opening sessions exposed the worst part of democracy as politicians scrambled for positions in the legislatures. They may claim there was nothing illegitimate about how they won their seats, but the wheeling and dealing that was on full display thanks to live television was something many people would probably rather not know or see.

Unlike in past elections, the deliberations to choose the MPR and DPR leaders went into the wee morning hours before the vote. On both counts, the Red-and-White Coalition (KMP), formed as a united force against incoming president Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, won.

It is not so much the process that was most disturbing as the intentions and the statements made by some KMP members. Being the sore losers they are '€” after their candidate Prabowo Subianto lost the presidential bid to Jokowi in July '€” they are now bent on depriving the new president a free passage in the legislature, promising a difficult battle every step of the way when he starts governing on Oct. 20.

The KMP victory in the election of the DPR and MPR leaders, where almost all positions fall under its control, raises the specter of gridlocks that could render Jokowi'€™s government dysfunctional.

The opposition camp not only has a controlling majority, it also controls the direction and political agenda, since it seized all the top positions, including the speakership.

Those keeping score say that it'€™s five to zero in favor of the KMP so far. But while the opposition camp has won all the battles, let'€™s not forget that Jokowi won the war.

And with all the possible drawbacks of governing from a minority position, he will still be the chief executive officer come Oct. 20.

This is a presidential system of government and the Constitution confers many powers and prerogatives on him to rule. Granted, his powers may not be as overriding as when Indonesia'€™s first two presidents, Sukarno and Soeharto, ruled. Today, Jokowi has to share more of his powers with others, including the legislatures.

This will be the ultimate test of statesmanship for any politician and not just for the incoming president: how to govern a nation effectively when power is so diluted.

There is a limit to how far the opposition coalition members can carry on with the charade before it starts backfiring. So far, it looks like their motivation has been only to exact revenge on Jokowi for stealing the presidency from Prabowo.

But public opinion has already rejected their maneuver to abolish the direct election mechanism for local leaders, replacing it with elections through the local legislatures. Sensing a major public outcry, outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a decree overruling the local election law and put the power to elect local leaders back in the people'€™s hands.

Early fears that KMP politicians would boycott Jokowi'€™s inauguration have dissipated. As soon as Zulkifli Hasan, from the KMP, was appointed MPR speaker on Wednesday, he said he would see to it that the inauguration took place as scheduled.

You can'€™t run politics solely on the basis of a personal vendetta forever. At some stage, these elected politicians need to start taking responsibility. Some members of the KMP are already feeling uneasy at playing Prabowo'€™s game of blocking Jokowi'€™s every single move. Time will tell how solid the opposition coalition is.

We get the leaders we deserve. So no one should grumble about the poor quality of the representatives we elected in April. If many of them now appear to be working for their party bosses rather than the people, despair not. There is a chance to vote them out in five years.

Sadly, from the opening performance of the national legislatures, we cannot avoid getting the feeling that we have put in place a government of the elite, by the elite and for the elite. There is hope, however, that the executive branch under President Jokowi will live up to the adage of government of, for and by the people.

After all, wasn'€™t he elected because many saw him as the real people'€™s president?

The next major item in the national political agenda will be the selection of the new Cabinet by the incoming president. Let'€™s hope that Jokowi doesn'€™t turn this into another fight of parceling out seats to political parties. That circus has left town.

'€” Endy M. Bayuni