Improve Public Trust

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani (right) has a light moment with the leaders of the House of Representatives (DPR) after delivering the government\'s response to the draft of the 2020 state budget, which was passed into law in the DPR plenary session at the Senayan Legislative Building in Jakarta on Tuesday (24/9/2019). The approved 2020 state budget includes economic growth of 5.3 percent, an inflation rate of 3.1 percent, an average rupiah exchange rate of Rp 14,400 per US dollar and a three-month treasury bill interest rate of 5.4 percent.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Regaining public trust will be one of the main tasks of the 575 members of the House of Representatives (DPR) in the 2019-2024 period. Public trust in the House for the 2014-2019 term has been eroded by poor performance and compounded by the DPR\'s actions, which tended not to involve the public in discussing legislation at the end of its term.In the last few weeks, the DPR has discussed and passed a number of controversial bills (RUU), including revision of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law, which is considered to weaken the KPK, while the draft revision of the Criminal Code (RKUHP) could lead to criminalization. The revision of the KPK Law has been passed, while RKUHP deliberations have been postponed. Deliberation of the two bills was carried out in private in a short time by the DPR.

Meanwhile, in terms of quantity, in 2014-2019, the level of achievement in the National Legislation Program did not reach 50 percent per year. Based on a Kompas survey in April 2019, only 45.1 percent of 1,200 respondents in 34 provinces had a god impression of the DPR.

Public aspirations

Head of the Center for Political Studies at the University of Indonesia, Aditya Perdana, who was contacted from Jakarta on Tuesday (24/9/2019), believes that public trust in the DPR has dropped further because near the end of its term, the DPR discussed bills that were contrary to public aspirations.

Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro

Rows of seats stand empty during the House of Representatives (DPR) plenary meeting on Tuesday (24/9/2019) at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta. A full chamber is a rare sight during the House’s plenary meetings. During the meeting the government and the DPR agreed to postpone the ratification of the revision of Law No. 12/1995 on penitentiaries. The postponement was aimed at gathering more input from the community in connection with a number of articles that are considered controversial.

Related to this, a lecturer in politics and government at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Mada Sukmajati, suggested that the 2019-2024 DPR, which will be inaugurated on Oct. 1, should increase public involvement, as well as prioritize public aspirations in the deliberation of bills. This has become important in the midst of declining public confidence due to the deteriorating performance of the DPR.

An internal mechanism, said a political researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, Arya Fernandes, needed to be established by the new DPR to ensure that the deliberation of each bill involved society. Deliberations should also be held openly.

According to the head of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences\' Political Research Center, Firman Noor, the new DPR must prove to the public that it is better than the previous DPR. This can be done by being more productive in making laws and maintaining the quality of legislation products. Efforts to improve public confidence in the DPR are very important for democratic practices. Without public trust in the DPR, the democratic system will be degraded.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

The deputy speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), Fahri Hamzah (second right), presides over a plenary session at the Senayan Legislative Building in Jakarta on Tuesday (24/9/2019). During the meeting the government and the DPR agreed to postpone the ratification of the revision of Law No. 12/1995 on penitentiaries. The postponement was aimed at gathering more input from the community in connection with a number of articles that are considered controversial.

Improvement

House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo did not deny that the DPR\'s performance this period had caused controversy that indicated public distrust. "This is a lesson for all of us," said Bambang.

Bambang said the DPR was trying to restore public trust by accommodating the demands of society and a government request, including delaying approval of the Criminal Code bill and the correctional institutions bill. "We will do our best [to restore confidence]," he said.

According to a DPR member from the Prosperous Justice Party faction, Nasir Djamil, the poor image of the DPR was not solely due to the performance of its members. Nasir, who was re-elected to the House for the 2019-2024 period, explained that DPR members were products of the Political Party Law and the Election Law. "It can\'t just be [the fault of] the DPR, the upstream must also be improved. This means changing the party system and electoral system so legislative members with integrity are elected," Nasir said.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani (right) has a light moment with the leaders of the House of Representatives (DPR) after delivering the government\'s response to the draft of the 2020 state budget, which was passed into law in the DPR plenary session at the Senayan Legislative Building in Jakarta on Tuesday (24/9/2019). The approved 2020 state budget includes economic growth of 5.3 percent, an inflation rate of 3.1 percent, an average rupiah exchange rate of Rp 14,400 per US dollar and a three-month treasury bill interest rate of 5.4 percent.

Golkar Party politician Nurul Arifin, who was elected to the House of Representatives for the 2019-2024 period, added that no less important to restoring public confidence was improving performance. She acknowledged that lost public trust in the DPR was a result of the low performance in legislation passage and corruption cases that had befallen a number of DPR members.

The DPR needs to improve the politics of legislation, namely by focusing more on the quality of regulations, not the quantity as has happened so far. Meanwhile, to prevent corruption, all members of the DPR need to be careful and distance themselves from practices that lead to corruption.

Arya Fernandes said evaluation by political parties was also needed. According to him, political parties should evaluate the performance of each DPR member and create a system of reward and punishment. In addition, the assignment of party member as DPR members should not be haphazard. Competence must be the main consideration.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Some participants are present for the public test of the draft General Election Commission (KPU) regulations regarding the stages, programs and schedule for the regional head elections in 2020 at the KPU Office in Jakarta on Monday (24/6/2019). The public test was held to get input and responses from election participants and various parties involved in the whole process of organizing the elections. The planned simultaneous local elections are to be held in 270 regions on Sept. 23, 2020.

A DPR member from the PDI-P faction, Budiman Sudjatmiko, acknowledged that the party\'s evaluation of the performance of DPR members was not optimal. The party still tended to prioritize loyalty over work that was measureable. (NIA/MTK/NTA)