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View Point: Hasn't the circus left town yet?
Welcome to the circus at the House of Representatives
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Welcome to the circus at the House of Representatives. The dome-shape DPR/MPR building in the Senayan district has of late been turned into a circus arena, courtesy of elected politicians and sponsored by PT Freeport Indonesia, the giant American gold mining company with a highly profitable concession in Papua.
The hearing of the House's ethics council of the House of Representatives to look into alleged ethical violations by then House speaker Setya Novanto turned into a public spectacle that dwarfed the Cirque de Soleil, said to be the best circus show on Earth, at least in terms of audience and entertainment.
Almost the whole nation was glued to their TV boxes or had turned to their gadgets to follow the ethics hearings that went on for almost four weeks and were mostly broadcast live. There were plenty of laughs too as the Senayan clowns and some invited guests took turns at center stage.
The chief attraction undoubtedly was the tightrope over which those connected with the Freeport scandal had to walk.
First to go was Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said, and he was followed by Freeport CEO Maroef Sjamsuddin, Setya and finally the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Panjaitan.
A fourth person, businessman Muhammad Reza Chalid, was on the bill, but he never came. The audience should get some of their money back for being short-changed.
The hearing centered around Setya's three separate meetings with Maroef, also attended by Reza, during which they discussed Freeport's request to extend its lucrative contract to operate in Papua beyond the current lease that ends in 2021. Sensing something was inappropriate, Maroef secretly recorded their conversation and then shared it with Sudirman, who later reported Setya to the ethics council and relinquished the recording as evidence.
Among the four made to walk the tightrope, only Setya lost his balance, but he never even reached the safety net. The House's deputy speakers Fadli Zon and Fahri Hamzah did their acrobatic acts from the trapeze to rescue their colleague each time he fell.
Just as it became clear that the ethics council would vote to declare that Setya had committed a serious violation, he tendered his resignation as House speaker. He quickly bounced back thanks to the trampoline below and got himself the powerful job as head of the Golkar faction.
The four-week hearing ended without a decision one way or another: a complete waste of time.
This was a political circus filled by clowns. There were no wild animals to entertain us, not even real monkeys. Looking at the politicians' behavior, Darwin was wrong about the evolution theory. Humans can be much dumber animals.
There were sideshows in the circus just as attractive or entertaining, particularly from TV networks running endless commentary involving other clowns.
The ethics council and the entire House became the targets of public ridicule. It did not help that the council members had insisted on being addressed as 'honorable' throughout the hearing, when clearly all they did was to dishonor the House's entire reputation.
Neither did it help that the scandal broke out shortly after the police busted the ring behind mama minta pulsa (mama wants phone credit), a massive scam to con people into sending money by way of telephone credits.
The media quickly dubbed the Freeport scandal papa minta saham (papa wants shares), a reference to Setya's proposal to Freeport to give up some shares to facilitate the negotiations.
Some in the audience who were clamoring for blood were disappointed. Nobody loses in this scandal.
The show is not over yet. Now some in the House want to start another inquiry into why the family of Vice President Jusuf Kalla held meetings with Freeport. This could be the next show in the new year. Are we going to see the VP walking the tightrope too? Stay tuned for the latest news.
A smaller circus show has been going on in the meantime in Senayan, over in Commission III, which looked into the scandal involving Pelindo II, the state-owned port operator. Its CEO, Richard Joost Lino, has already been declared a corruption suspect, but the commission is going after bigger fish.
Now we know clowning is a profession restricted to men only, but women can be just as good. Rieke Diah Pitaloka is now leading the campaign in demanding President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo expel State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno from Cabinet over the port scandal, with a stern warning that failing to do so could lead to the President being impeached.
The political circus doesn't get better than this. Rieke is from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the main party in Jokowi's governmental coalition. Would she also subject the President to walk the political tightrope? Don't go away. Stay tuned!
At this rate, the DPR/MPR building could become the permanent site for the circus shows.
Sure they can be entertaining, but since these elected politicians live off taxpayers' money, it begs the question: Are we really getting our money's worth? Are they not overpaid for the clowning job they do?
When will these political spectacle end so that we can restore the DPR/MPR building to its honorable status and function?
Probably not for a while.
As American comedian George Carlin said, 'Just 'cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town.'
Sit back and enjoy the circus.
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The writer is senior editor at The Jakarta Post.
