Anita Rachman & Dessy Sagita – Nongovernmental organizations should not assume to be representatives of the people's aspirations, the speaker of the House of Representatives said on Monday. That, he said, is a role reserved for lawmakers.

Marzuki Alie's comments came after a group of NGOs announced on Sunday that it would file a lawsuit against the House – and Marzuki, in particular – next month for pushing ahead with a controversial plan to build a new Rp 1.13 trillion ($130 million) office tower for lawmakers.

"Please don't speak on behalf of the people," he said, addressing a group of government watchdogs that included the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), a particularly vocal critic of the building plan. "House members are the official representatives."

The senior Democratic Party member said objections raised by the NGOs did not necessarily represent the opinions of most people. Lawmakers, by contrast, are directly elected by the people, he added. "Who do these NGOs represent? How come the one that's legitimate [the House] is being trumped by these NGOs?"

However, people approached by the Jakarta Globe begged to differ with the House speaker.

Maya Larasati, a 23-year-old student at Atma Jaya University in Yogyakarta, said she did not trust lawmakers, especially after the controversial overseas trips, antipornography law and other "stupid bills."

Maya said lawmakers did not deserve to be called representatives of the people because they asked the public to make sacrifices that they themselves were not willing to make.

"As a citizen, I've been willing to cut expenses, save fuel, electricity, but these so-called leaders are not willing to do the same with their plan for a new building," she said.

Witriani, a 29-year-old office worker, said most lawmakers only represented their own interests and their political party's greed.

"They are too busy looking for more power," she said. "They spend most of their time arguing over which policy or bill will benefit their clique the most. They have no time to represent us, their constituents."

Witriani said the House was also distracted by trivial affairs, like sex-tape scandals.

Romy Gustiansyah, a banker, said lawmakers had no right to call themselves the people's representatives. "They've missed their target to finish drafting bills and yet they still make a lot of demands like a lavish new building and a permanent pension scheme for just five years of work," he said.

Ronald Rofiandri, director of advocacy at the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies (PSHK), said it was unwise of Marzuki to criticize the NGOs.

"It is irrelevant to question whom the NGOs are representing. NGOs exist because of public aspirations that forge them into organizations," he said. NGOs, he added, have every right to question the House's decisions because they act as government monitors.

Hanta Yuda, a political analyst at the Indonesian Institute, said the public had lost faith in lawmakers, as seen in the critical voices on social media like Facebook.

"Political parties have failed to perform their function in conveying public aspirations," he said. "They've come up with policies their constituents don't want."