We were all astounded when a bill to revise the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law was passed. Similarly, the public was shocked when a number of controversial bills were about to be passed, though delayed.

But what was not realized all around was the fact that all the bills had been approved in their entirety by virtually all political parties, without any meaningful debate or contention among themselves.

This perfect concurrence reflects that internal accountability within the House hardly exists. It has been arduous to make politicians accountable during “normal” times.

Now without dissenting views over major issues, decent legal or policy output seems to be more difficult to acquire.

The timing of this concurrence could not be any better. The election is over and seats have been proportionally given to political parties according to their vote shares. The much-awaited “reconciliation” between the two opposing camps in the presidential race has also been carried out; thus, there might be no strong reason to listen to public concerns this time around.

On the so-called reconciliation, one would remember the urge for having a compromise between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his then-rival Prabowo Subianto, to subside potential tensions at the grass roots, given that the election was over and the Constitutional Court had upheld Jokowi’s victory.

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