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Setya’s return may pave way for PDI-P’s long-awaited chairmanship seat
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Mutual benefit – Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri (second from right) and PDI-P secretary general Hasto Kristiyanto (right) talk with Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto (second from left) and the party’s secretary general Idrus Marham (left) in Jakarta on Nov. 20. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
T
he return of Golkar chairman Setya Novanto as speaker of the House of Representatives may open the chance for the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to get a House leadership position.
In exchange for its support of Setya’s comeback, the PDI-P has once again requested the amendment of the 2014 Legislative Institution Law, known as the MD3 Law.
“Bu Mega [chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri] has told us since the very beginning that something is not right with the [MD3] law, thus it needs a revision,” PDI-P politician Masinton Pasaribu said Friday.
“Lawmakers are representatives of the people, but they are also officers of their respective parties. We must comply with whatever our party decides,” said the member of House Commission III overseeing law and human rights.
In 2014, the PDI-P’s attempt to secure the House speaker post failed after the Constitutional Court rejected its request for a judicial review of the MD3 Law.
Masinton said his party again requested the amendment of the 2014 law several days after Golkar decided to return Setya to his position as House speaker, replacing Ade Komarudin, also of Golkar.
Earlier, PDI-P lawmaker Hendrawan Pratikno asserted that as an institution representing all of the Indonesian people, the House should comply with their decisions and wishes, which in this case were reflected by the majority of votes the party won in the 2014 legislative election. Thus, the PDI-P should have got the House speaker post because it was the winner of the election, Pratikno argued.
However, the existing MD3 Law does not adopt a proportional mechanism that would allow winners of legislative elections to secure House chairmanship seats.
The House deliberated the MD3 Law when the pro-government Great Indonesian Coalition (KIH) and the opposition Red-and-White Coalition (KMP) clashed after the 2014 legislative election. Golkar was aligned with the KMP before it jumped ship to support President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s coalition led by the PDI-P.
Setya resigned from his position on Dec.16, 2015, following a House ethics council investigation into his alleged corruption attempt related to the extension of US-based gold and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining contract. (ebf)
