J

akarta residents are the first to fall victim to the dispute between two rival coalitions in the City Council, which shows no sign of ending. Many development programs proposed by the city government will not materialize anytime soon as the division has prevented the council from deliberating the draft budget.

The political brouhaha cannot be separated from the protracted standoff in the House of Representatives between the opposition Red-and-White Coalition and the pro-government Great Indonesia Coalition, even though in other regions the two rival groups have already put their fierce competition in the presidential election behind them and reunited.

Apart from struggling for leadership seats in the Jakarta legislative council'€™s commissions, dozens of councilors from the opposition force have been challenging Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama, who they say is not the legitimate leader of the city despite his inauguration by President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo on Nov. 19.

While their counterparts in many other regions have started to work, the Jakarta City Council members have earned salaries practically without working since they took office three months ago. This is because the council has been unable to establish commissions urgently needed to make the Council workable. It is deplorable that the councilors have put personal and group interests before the interests of the people who elected them.

As a result of the political stalemate, the 2015 city budget, at the very least, is at stake. According to the law, in the event that a regional legislative council fails to endorse the regional budget, the old budget automatically applies.

But with all the goings-on and changes of priority, the old budget will not help much. It is natural that Jakarta'€™s people want the conflict between the local elite to be settled so that the councilors can do their job, which includes deliberating the city budget.

It would be a shame for the city councilors if they cannot voice and defend people'€™s aspirations in the budget deliberation; it would constitute neglect of the council'€™s main responsibility as well as the people'€™s mandate.

Failure to deliberate, let alone endorse, the budget means the City Council will allow city development programs to stagnate, because it will have to replicate all development programs and projects stipulated in the 2014 budget. People cannot expect progress, as the policymakers are unable to utilize their great potential and resources to make the city a better place to live tomorrow.

It is high time for the local political elite to put aside their egos, personal and group interests and seek every avenue to reconciliation for the sake of the people. Only if the council is united can it carry out its job as representative of the people. The problem is that the councilors will have to race against time as the new year is already around the corner.

The council'€™s failure to pass the budget will leave a stain in the city'€™s history book. If that happens, the councilors will have to be ready for public outrage: shame on you, councilors. A trending topic, maybe, but an unnecessary one.