T

he simmering power struggle between two opposing coalitions in the House of Representatives is threatening to seriously disrupt the government'€™s ability to run the bureaucracy, an analyst has said.

Giri Ahmad Taufik from the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies (PSHK) said the heated political rivalry was jeopardizing the fate of the government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) issued by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, which will reinstate direct elections of regional heads.

'€œThe House should focus on enacting legislation, monitoring and budgeting. This rift poses a serious threat to the effectiveness of the House'€™s work,'€ Giri said on Sunday.

Article 22 of the Constitution stipulates that a Perppu must first be endorsed by the House before it can come into full effect.

The House grabbed headlines on Wednesday when President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s Great Indonesia Coalition insisted on establishing its own leadership of the House and its internal bodies.

For the sake of the nation, Jokowi has called for the conflicting groups to put an end to the quarrel.

The President'€™s call has so far fallen on deaf ears in both camps in the House.

Lawmakers had previously said they would start discussing the Perppu in January next year. The Perppu stipulates that preparations for a regional election can take up to nine months.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) anticipates 188 concurrent regional elections in September next year, which means that preparations may begin in January.

'€œThey are occupied by this rivalry instead of focusing on deliberating the Perppu this sitting session [which will end in mid-November],'€ Giri said.

The KPK itself warned on Sunday that the rivalry within the House was putting the upcoming fit-and-proper tests for the two candidates to replace retiring KPK commissioner Busyro Muqoddas '€” whose tenure is slated to wrap up on Dec. 11 '€” in limbo.

Jokowi'€™s predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who stepped down on Oct. 20, had selected two candidates from 80 people registered for the post in August, and it is now the duty of the House to pick one of the two through a fit-and-proper test conducted by House Commission III overseeing legal affairs.

KPK deputy for the prevention unit, Johan Budi stated his hope that the House would not turn the upcoming fit-and-proper tests into another '€œpolitical football'€, adding that failing to select one candidate by the Dec. 11 deadline would leave Busyro'€™s post vacant.

'€œWe hope that the House will put national interest above all else in making a decision on the fit-and-proper test. It'€™s already November and hopefully the fit-and-proper test will be conducted soon,'€ Johan said on Sunday.

Former KPK advisor and commissioner selection team member Abdullah Hehamahua said that failing to choose one candidate by the December deadline would tarnish the image of the legislative body.

'€œThe KPK can run even without a commissioner, but if the House fails to select one candidate by [December] it will tarnish its own image,'€ Abdullah said.

Besides Busyro, Cabinet Secretariat staff member Roby Arya Brata will also face a grilling from House Commission III members during the upcoming fit-and-proper test, whose schedule remains unknown as of today.

'€œWe have not yet organized the fit-and-proper tests because we have not received the two names from the [current] President [and the former president]. As soon as we have received them, we will arrange the tests,'€ Golkar Party lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said.

'€œThis divide is also hampering the performance of the government; they need the House as their partner to carry out their monitoring tasks effectively. For example, the Religious Affairs Ministry cannot report the review on haj management,'€ Giri added.