Statesmanship is in short supply in Indonesia. Our political elite just doesn't have it.

The standoff between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the House of Representatives over the past month or so attests to the one missing element that is so crucial in leading a nation. A little statesmanship, from either side, is all that is needed to get this nation out of the present political mess and start addressing the real issues. But none of this seems to be forthcoming.

It all started when parliament began an interpellation motion calling on the government to account for a particular foreign policy decision. In other words, it's not even about a domestic issue.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono feels that he does not have to personally attend the plenary hearing and dispatched seven members of the Cabinet to answer the motion. Parliament sent the emissaries packing and insisted that the president himself come to do the explaining. Yudhoyono has since visited the parliament building on two occasions, not to attend a plenary meeting, but to discuss a way out of the impasse with the parliamentary leadership. Both times failed to bear fruit, and hence the standoff that continues today.

This is not as ridiculous as the issue over which the two sides are fighting: Iran, or more specifically, Iran's nuclear policy, and more to the point, the Indonesian government's decision to support a US-sponsored UN Security Council resolution calling for the expansion of economic sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear policy.

Parliament, led by prominent members from Golkar, which is not, coincidentally, chaired by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, started the interpellation motion, collecting more than enough signatures to call on the government to account for its foreign policy decision before parliament.

So now we have a situation where the executive branch and the legislative branch are at each other's throats over Iran. How pathetic can we get? This could only happen in Indonesia, where the political elite have truly mastered the art of pettiness and have avoided dealing with the more crucial and difficult issues facing the country, such as unemployment and poverty eradication. They have really cheapened the value of democracy.

Besides Golkar, many House members from other parties in the governing coalition signed on to the interpellation motion. Why the President still insists on retaining the coalition is anybody's guess. It is undoubtedly dysfunctional.

Even the President's relationship with Kalla is now in question. Kalla had in the past stopped the interpellation moves on their tracks by making a few phone calls to politicians in parliament. This time around, he hasn't even reined in Golkar politicians.

After this episode is over, Yudhoyono may want to rethink the composition of his Cabinet, and get rid of these little Trojan horses before they create more problems for him.

Supporters of interpellation argue that this all has to do with Muslim brotherhood. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad certainly charmed the pants off many people, including members of the House, when he came to town last year. He was so successful at this that many in Indonesia feel that – irrespective of the arguments presented at the Security Council – Indonesia should have voted against the US-sponsored resolution.

But if Muslim solidarity was a criterion, why then is Qatar, also a predominantly Muslim country itself much closer geographically to Iran, not having any of the same domestic problems despite also voting for the resolution. Obviously, this is not really about Iran or Islamic brotherhood.

The government, through Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, has given the most detailed explanation to the public, both before and after the resolution was passed, about the rationale for voting in support. The president could not add anything more to what had already been given by his minister.

Nor is this about who is right or wrong in terms of parliamentary procedures. A ruling on interpellation does not require the president to come to the plenary meeting. In fact, on many occasions in the past, the presence of ministers was accepted.

Behind all these maneuvers, there is something more than our politicians would care to admit. This is all about the 2009 election. Iran and the Security Council vote is just a convenient entry point for their broader domestic agenda. The politicians in parliament as well as Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla are equally responsible for driving this nation to this present impasse.

If they had just a little statesmanship in them and saw the larger national interest, they could stop all this nonsense once and for all.