Harry Bhaskara – The new members of the House of Representatives have become embroiled in a power struggle less than a month after taking their seats. The People's Coalition in the 550-strong House urged government officials over the weekend to ignore invitations from its rival Nationhood Coalition. The week before that, the People's Coalition, which supports President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, boycotted the House plenary meeting that was supposed to elect the chairs of the House's 11 commissions and five other auxiliary bodies.

The House is divided almost evenly between the two coalitions, with the Nationhood Coalition, which supported Megawati Soekarnoputri in her failed bid in the September 20 presidential election, having only a few more seats.

Outside of the coalitions, the faction of the Nation Awakening Party (PKB) – which is usually allied with the Nationhood Coalition – often swings between the rival coalitions as the occasion dictates.

This is bad news for people who long for decent representatives in the House, and a warning to the new government that the going might be tough. The expectation that the new House members would exude a fresh and clean image, especially with so many new faces, is now in limbo.

The People's Coalition blamed its rival faction for changing the rules in the race for the commissions chairs when it boycotted the October 20 plenary session. With 10 factions in total, the House has only 547 members, three short of 550 because three legislators have yet to be installed due to some legal troubles.

The Nationhood Coalition comprises the factions of the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) and the Star Reform Party (PBR), with a total seats of 275. Megawati Soekarnoputri lost her bid for reelection in the September 20 presidential election despite the support of these parties.

The People's Coalition comprises five factions, including the United Development Party (PPP), the Democratic Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Pioneer Star (BPD), with a total of 233 seats. Apart from the PPP, which initially belonged to the Nationhood Coalition, these parties supported Susilo in the presidential election.

The PKB faction decided to tilt toward the Nationhood Coalition on the commission leadership issue.

The tussle in the House began in the third week of October, after the election of the House leaders. Initially, all of the factions agreed to pick the leaders of the commissions and five other auxiliary bodies based on the proportion of the parties' seats in the House. With the most seats in the House, Golkar would get four commission chairmanships and 11 deputy chairmanships. The second biggest faction, PDI-P, would get three chairmanships and nine deputy chairmanships, while the PPP, Democratic Party and PAN would get two chairmanship posts each, and the PKB one.

The PKB rejected this scheme, saying the division of the posts was unfair. Holding 52 seats it demanded two commission chairmanship posts, the same as PAN which has 53 seats. Some of the smaller factions also wanted more leadership posts.

When the suggestion was tabled that the posts be voted on, the Nationhood Coalition agreed as the voting would favor them. But with only 232 members in the 550-strong House, the People's Coalition could smell defeat and refused to attend the session.

Interestingly, during the October 20 boycotted plenary session, the Nationhood Coalition and the PKB faction unilaterally endorsed the members of the House's 11 commissions and its five auxiliary bodies.

The boycott by the People's Coalition continued on October 21 and October 22, when only the Nationhood Coalition and the PKB faction showed up to select the chairs and deputy chairs of the House commissions.

Pundits are debating the legality of the selections, as there is a ruling in the House requiring more than half of the House members from more than half of the factions be present for a decision to be considered legal.

The rivalry between the Nationhood Coalition and the People's Coalition dates back to the September 20 presidential election. The pro-Susilo People's Coalition was set up in response to the establishment of the Nationhood Coalition by heavyweight parties like Golkar and PDI-P to support Megawati. It is a rivalry that is not going to go away very soon.

The pendulum-like position of the PKB in the House is attributable to the failure of Susilo to win the support of the party. Susilo succeeded in winning many allies for his party, the small and little-known Democratic Party, but the PKB, which is closely associated with the Nahdlatul Ulama, the nation's biggest Islam organization, rejected his approaches. True that two PKB leaders, Alwi Shihab and Saifullah Yusuf, are now in Susilo's Cabinet, but former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, the prominent Muslim scholar and PKB co-founder, still holds clout in the party.

Sad as it may be, the House saga is not a surprise. The previous House members, who ended their terms on September 31, 2004, like their predecessors were always seen in an unsavory light. Among the reasons for this were the ever-persistent rumors of money politics. It is widely believed that certain commissions are perceived as more "lucrative" than others, hence the wrangling over leadership for those commissions, forgetting the fact that the leaders' main function is merely as the commissions' spokesmen.

What is surprising is the fact that this internal tussle occurred so early and over such apparently trivial matters. If serving the people was high on the members' agenda, why this wrangling for the leadership of the commissions? The boycotts and all the other games have stalled House activities and delayed some urgent matters, such as the replacement of the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief, which must still be discussed.

It seems likely that more heated political wrangling is in store. The early days of Susilo's government will likely be anything but smooth sailing.