Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The public has lost faith in the House of Representatives, believing its members put their parties' interests first, a recent survey has found. Instead, people are looking to the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) to voice their concerns.
The survey, conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) in April, found about 80 percent of 1,200 respondents wanted the DPD to have greater authority as a counterbalance to the House's domination.
"The respondents see political parties and lawmakers as having weak legitimacy because they fail to fight for their constituents' needs and merely pursue their own interests," LSI executive director Saiful Mujani said at the release of the survey Wednesday.
Most respondents believed they could rely on the DPD as the only representative body that was free of party influences.
The survey was conducted three months before the Constitutional Court ruled that political party members were eligible to run for DPD seats in 2009.
More than two-thirds of respondents agreed the DPD should hold equal powers with the House in regional autonomy issues. Under the Constitution, the DPD is restricted to providing recommendations to the House.
About 59 percent of the respondents supported a fifth amendment to the Constitution to empower the DPD, the survey found. The survey also revealed the DPD members were perceived as being more accountable than House members.
In the DPD election, people vote for individuals, while in the election for House members voters choose political parties. Senior executives of the political parties hold the power to select legislative candidates.
"Half of the respondents assume the selection of House members accommodates the interests of political parties only," Saiful said.
When asked about the institution that would be able to voice their interests, respondents chose the media and nongovernment organizations over political parties, which were chosen by only 11 percent of respondents.
Political analyst from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies J. Kristiadi said he doubted DPD members would be able to defend the public interest once they were given greater powers.
"The weak position of DPD is not about the domination by the House, but because the DPD itself has yet to make the most of its role," he said. "The DPD's efforts to endorse the Constitutional amendment could be suspicious. It is possible they only want more power."
Denny Indrayana of Gadjah Mada University said he lamented the Constitutional Court's decision to allow nonpartisanship in the DPD, saying it was a setback to the 2004 election system and to the council's existence. "With such a verdict, we cannot expect much from the DPD, but maybe the next Constitutional amendment will provide a solution," he said.