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House seals the deal: All political parties to get leadership seat in MPR
Amid lobbies over Cabinet positions and the Constitution amendment agenda, all parties have supported an amendment of the Legislative Institutions (MD3) Law.
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A file photograph shows empty seats at the House of Representatives. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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ollowing the tug of war among political parties which have been racing to secure speakership posts at the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), lawmakers have agreed on a law amendment to enable all parties to get a seat and, therefore, control the legislative body.
The government and the House of Representatives have decided to revise the Legislative Institutions (MD3) Law to make the number of leadership positions in the MPR, a bicameral legislative body consisting of the House and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), more flexible, to enable power-sharing among political parties.
The political parties had earlier battled over control of the MPR following a maneuver from the Gerindra Party, the largest opposition party at the House, to join the government camp. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which has sought greater control in Jokowi’s upcoming Cabinet, has aided Gerindra by welcoming the latter to form an alliance of leadership in the MPR.
The move of the PDI-P and Gerindra, which had earlier supported its chairman Prabowo Subianto to run against Jokowi in the presidential election, has irked other parties in the Jokowi camp, which later announced they would form an alliance to contest the PDI-P-Gerindra alliance for the MPR posts.
Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, who is a PDI-P politician, said the government had finally agreed on the MD3 bill as an effort to strengthen the legislative body, as every party that has made it to the House would have a seat in the MPR leadership.
"Hopefully, after this amendment, every policy-making process in the MPR can be done through a consensus, without opposition. No more revision to the law as the MPR leadership posts would automatically guarantee that all parties would pass,” Tjahjo said.
While waiting for the inauguration of the new batch of lawmakers and the beginning of Jokowi’s second term, the PDI-P along with the National Mandate Party (PAN) have rallied support for the amendment of the Constitution, to regain control over the government’s development agenda through the reinstatement of the State Policy Guidelines (GBHN).
