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All political parties to get leadership seats in MPR
Following the tug of war among political parties that 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
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span>Following the tug of war among political parties that 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 President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo’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).
The MPR used to have the authority to pass the GBHN during Soeharto’s New Order, but at that time, under his authoritarian grip, the legislative body was merely a formality to approve his own development agenda. Political observers and activists have criticized the PDI-P’s move to return the GBHN as it is seen as a way to control Jokowi.
PAN, Gerindra and the United Development Party (PPP), also an ally of Jokowi, were the initiators behind the MD3 Law revision. No other parties from the Jokowi camp had backed the MD3 Law revision. But amid lobbies over Cabinet positions and the Constitution amendment agenda, all parties have supported the law deliberation.
In the current MD3 Law, there are only five leadership posts — consisting of one speaker and four deputies — which are occupied by major political factions in the House and DPD. If there is no consensus on which faction should occupy the seats, the leadership can be contested, with several coalitions of political parties and DPD factions competing in a voting mechanism.
The MD3 Law amendment, which is set to be passed in the next House plenary session, will double the number of leadership posts in the assembly so that it will consist of one speaker and nine deputies, including one from the DPD.
Through the revision, the voting mechanism to select the MPR speaker will automatically turn into a consensus agreement, as there will be no more competition. The agreement was made during a two-hour closed-door meeting between the government and lawmakers on Friday afternoon.
The Golkar Party, a major ally of Jokowi which has also rejected the Constitution amendment proposal, said the amendment was a form of “political compromise.”
“It doesn’t always have to be ‘the winners take it all’ of course, we need to compromise too,” Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto said.
The PDI-P, the winner of the April legislative election that has secured major seats at the House, has also accepted the amendment, citing hope for a “peaceful political atmosphere.”
“This is our effort to create a political atmosphere that is calm and effective,” PDI-P executive Hendrawan Supratikno said.
Indonesian Parliament Watch (Formappi) analyst Lucius Karus said amendments of the MD3 Law had been made several times and aimed to guarantee power sharing at the legislative bodies.
Since its issuance in 2014, the law has been revised three times, mostly to accommodate power-sharing among political parties. In July 2014, after the 2014 general election saw the PDI-P emerge as the winner, the House revised the law to pave the way for opposition parties to hold speakership posts, not the PDI-P.
The next revision was made in December 2014 to allow parties in the ruling coalition to hold House committee leadership positions.
In 2018, the House revised the law again to add three more leadership posts, including a post for the PDI-P in the MPR.
“The parties are putting aside the nation’s fate for the sake of their own gain. More MPR leadership posts would be a waste of money,” said Lucius.
In the 2020 state budget, Rp 600 billion (US$42 million) has been allocated to the MPR. In 2018, when the House agreed to add three MPR leadership seats, its secretary-general proposed additional budgetary funds of Rp 350 billion to pay for their salaries, allowances, personal drivers and maids, among other expenses.
