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Gerindra to lead weakened opposition

The House of Representatives is expected to become dry land for critical voices as the Gerindra Party is projected to lead a weak opposition to balance the allies of incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo that have become the majority of the legislature

Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, May 27, 2019

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Gerindra to lead weakened opposition

The House of Representatives is expected to become dry land for critical voices as the Gerindra Party is projected to lead a weak opposition to balance the allies of incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo that have become the majority of the legislature.

Projected to become the third-largest party in the House with 78 seats, the party, which is led by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, will be the only party from the opposition camp that will secure a leadership position at the House.

Article 427 of the Legislative Institutions (MD3) Law stipulates that House speakership consists of one House speaker and four deputy speakers from the top five political parties with the most votes.

Gerindra will join the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the ruling party from the Jokowi coalition that has been announced the winner of the legislative race, along with other members of the coalition, the Golkar Party, the NasDem Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB).

Three other political parties that supported Prabowo during the general election—the Democratic Party the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)—will still get seats at the House but not in the leadership.

Even if Gerindra is able to rally support against parties supporting Jokowi, it will still be outnumbered — as the latter parties are projected to dominate about 60 percent of House seats.

The Indonesian Parliament Watch (Formappi) has pointed out that the opposition power will not be strong enough to significantly influence lawmaking, hence, there is worry that there will be a lack of voices critical of the government.

“If the opposition camp is weak, the House will have no challenge. As a consequence, lawmakers’ performance will not improve,” Formappi researcher Lucius Karus said recently.

Political observer Arya Fernandes from think-tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said a progovernment dominated legislature would not be effective. “Basically, we need a strong legislature. So if nearly all parties join the government coalition, we won’t have a strong legislative institution and the lawmakers will no longer be critical,” Arya said.

Gerindra may try to look for greater clout by securing speakership at the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) along with other parties in the opposition camp.

By securing MPR speakership, political parties have control of inaugurating or impeaching the president and vice president, as well as rule over constitutional amendments.

The MD3 Law also stipulates that, unlike House leadership, the appointment of speakership in the assembly, which also includes members of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), is carried out through voting.

Political parties are required to propose a leadership package consisting of political party representatives that will be voted on in the assembly.

The voting system has driven competition among Golkar and the PKB, which have demanded the MPR speaker post. Speculation is rife that PAN—with chairman Zulkifli Hasan the incumbent of the post—is also trying to keep the speakership.

Golkar chairman Airlangga Hartarto said he had conveyed to Jokowi that his party, which secured the second-largest number of House seats, deserved the MPR speaker post. “Golkar has asked [for the seat] and it’s acceptable. Jokowi has given a positive response,” Airlangga said.

Gerindra deputy chairman and House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon said that although the party still had a chance to gain leadership in the MPR, the matter was not yet on the party’s table. “We’re still focusing on the presidential election dispute,” Fadli said.

The Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), however, is more skeptical about Jokowi’s supporting paties. Perludem executive director Titi Anggraini said the strong support behind Jokowi might end soon as the political parties—both ruling and opposition—would realign themselves for the 2024 general election, when Jokowi would not be able to run again.

“They may be solid for the next one or two years ahead, but after that, the parties may have other agendas and stand from the government,” she said.

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