DPR Members Obsessed with New Building

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Employees clean the stairs at the House of Representatives building in Jakarta on Monday (16/4/2012).

Since 2008, members of the House of Representatives (DPR) have intended to build a new building in an effort to improve the performance of the people\'s representatives.

The plan began with a feasibility study on the construction of a new building and a structural audit on the existing Nusantara building in the House complex in Senayan, Jakarta.

In 2009, the work began. The following year, House Speaker Marzuki Alie also announced the plan to construct a new building. However, a number of lawmakers demanded that the plan be postponed, even though Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said the government could not prevent it (Kompas, 3/9/2010).

Three days later, because of opposition from the public and some House members, the development plan was postponed. The House of Representatives seemed to be responding to public opinion. In 2012, however, it was revealed that the project for the House building, which would include the renovation of work space of the House Budget Agency at a cost of Rp 20.3 billion, was considered outrageous by some of the people’s representatives. The House leaders asked the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate alleged irregularities in the renovation project. The plan for a new House building seemed to have been abandoned.

Three years later, the House members of the 2014-2019 period revived the idea for the new building. The House still plans to build a new House complex, including a democratic square for protest events, by 2019. The new area is expected to become an icon of the capital.

More complicated than the planned construction of the new House building in 2010, which was valued at Rp 1.6 trillion, the reconstruction of the new House complex in 2017-2019 will cost Rp 5.7 trillion. Rather than serving only the people\'s representatives, the complex is expected to become a public facility. However, the people have rejected the development plan, even though the chairman of the House’s Ways and Means Committee, Anton Sihombing, said the government supported it (Kompas, 23/8/2017).

It turns out that the government has never firmly approved the House development plan. This reflects in the fact that the budget funds for the construction of the complex, which would start with the renovation of House offices and a polyclinic at a cost of Rp 601.93 billion, have not been disbursed by the government. However, the House is not caving in and has again submitted a budget proposal for the second development stage in 2019, amounting to Rp 640.86 billion.

It is hard to know what is on the minds of House members, including House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon, as they push for the construction of a new House building. The people do not need their representatives at the House to cement their legacy in new buildings and squares. In their eyes, a House that produces legislation for the welfare and protection of the people – and one that rids itself of corrupt members – is more valuable than a flashy House complex.

The House members should prioritize the interests of the people, because they are the representatives and servants of the people. Moreover, this year and 2019 are the political years, with important elections to take place. As former French president Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) put it, "Pour devenir des maîtres, les politiciens se préentent comme des serviteurs (To become masters, politicians must present themselves as servants)."