The appointment of the 2019-2024 leaders at the House of Representatives (DPR), the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) shows the quality of democracy.
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The appointment of the 2019-2024 leaders at the House of Representatives (DPR), the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) shows the quality of democracy.
Puan Maharani’s appointment as the DPR speaker – the first female politician to hold the position – has strong legitimacy under the law on the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), DPR, DPD and Regional Legislative Councils (DPRD). Also known as the MD3 Law, it states that the DPR speakership is to be filled by the political party that has won the general election. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is the party that won the 17 April 2019 general election, and it has appointed Puan as the DPR speaker. Puan also won the most votes in her constituency.
La Nyalla Mattalitti, a DPD member from East Java, was appointed as the DPD chairman by vote. Acquitted in a corruption case, La Nyalla’s appointment might be surprising, as he beat out the "other senators" in the DPD, such as Nono Sampono and Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hemas.
These “other senators” from Jakarta, such as former Constitutional Court chief justice Jimly Asshiddiqie, were even “drowned” in the DPD’s game of democracy. La Nyalla, the 2015-2016 chairman of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI), garnered 47 votes from the 134 DPD members, while Nono gained 40 votes, Mahyudin 28 votes and Sultan Bahtiar 18 votes. The MPR now has 10 leadership seats.
In the BPK, the DPR approved its five leaders: Gerindra politician and former activist Pius Lustrilanang gained the most votes at 43, followed by PDI-P politician Daniel Lumban Tobing (42 votes), BPK official Hendra Susanto (41 votes), politician and BPK member Ahsanul Qosasi (31 votes) and Harry Azhar Azis (29 votes). Harry was the 2014-2019 chairman of the BPK. Politicians dominate the state auditing agency.
This elitist result of democracy is what we are accepting. As a system, democracy does not automatically produce ideal figures that match the people’s expectations; figures that offer sociopolitical security and image for the people. Democracy as interpreted in the sense of “one person, one vote” opens the possibility of choosing individuals who are actually anti-democratic. What we should reflect on together is whether the democracy we practice is compatible with the principle of consensual deliberation as one of the principles of Pancasila.
People need only look to see how the political elite use democracy to share power. It is hoped that this trend will not lead to "the demise of democracy" as British political science professor John Keane quipped: A democracy that is dead becomes an empty and meaningless symbol. Democracy no longer draws its life force from the will of the people, but the will of politicians.
The face of these institutions will be determined by their leaders. We hope that the leaders of these institutions can produce benchmarks to strengthen the Indonesian nation-state, and not just empty and meaningless words.