A month after being sworn in, Indonesian lawmakers have yet to begin work amid a bitter dispute that could threaten efforts by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to improve security and cure the country's economic ills.

Legislators who supported Yudhoyono's election bid and those loyal to former President Megawati Sukarnoputri are unable to agree over which lawmakers should head parliament's nine commissions.

The two factions – which each control around 50 per cent of the seats in the house – are refusing to meet, and are planning to name their own commission heads, media reports said Tuesday. There appeared to be no solution in sight.

"This could become a constitutional crisis if things don't change soon," said Arbi Sanit, a political science professor at the University of Indonesia. "In Indonesia's history, all political crises have begun in the parliament."

A protracted deadlock will harden divisions in the house and hamper Yudhoyono's ability to push through legislation needed to make good on campaign promises to battle endemic graft, fix the economy and fight Islamist militants in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Yudhoyono has reportedly told his ministers not to attend any functions in the parliament until an agreement is reached, presumably out of fear that the dispute could spread to his Cabinet, which contains ministers from parties on both sides of the dispute.

Yudhoyono won September's direct vote for president by a landslide, but he does not have a clear majority in the parliament, whose 550 legislators were elected separately in April. His own newly formed Democratic Party holds only 10 per cent of the seats.

"This is ... a warning to the government that the going might be tough," wrote Harry Bhaskara in The Jakarta Post. "It seems likely that more heated political wrangling is in store."

The dispute is likely to add to the poor reputation of Indonesian lawmakers, who have long been criticised as lazy and in many cases more interested in using their position to enrich themselves than serving the electorate. The parliament's commission posts are influential, and those dealing with mining, trade and finance have the reputation of being "wet" – a local term meaning they are laden with opportunities for corruption.

However, some analysts said it was too soon to say the dispute signalled the start of a long battle between the president and the parliament.

The country's largest political party, Golkar, is expected to change its leadership in December, and could well throw its weight behind Yudhoyono. Two of its senior members are in his Cabinet.

Moreover, Indonesian lawmakers have no tradition of working as a formal opposition body to block legislation. Political parties have no ideological basis or specific polices – something that makes steady opposition hard to sustain.