Jakarta – With many veteran legislators in the current House of Representatives about to be replaced by newcomers with little or no experience, doubt has been cast over the future ability of the legislative body.
The Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) reported Tuesday that nearly 400 new legislators from various backgrounds, or around 70 percent of the total 560 members, will soon dominate the House.
The United Development Party (PPP) has the most new members entering the House with almost 90 percent, or 30 newcomers out of the total 37 seats available for the party.
The new legislators taking seats are primarily from the business sector, along with a number of celebrities and children and relatives of former high-level officials.
Celebrities, such as soap opera star Primus Yustisio from PAN, will be working side-by-side with Edhie Baskoro, the youngest son of incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"The 70 percent turnover shows that this year's legislative elections were an open competition. But the number also raises doubt about the quality of the House's upcoming performance," Cetro director Hadar Navis Gumay said.
Recently, the House of Representatives' Performance Appraisal Team rated the performance of the 2004-2009 legislators as being poorer compared to that of the 1999-2004 term. The outgoing round of legislators only managed to pass 157 of a targeted 284 bills in the past five years.
Political analyst Bonny Hargens said this situation could worsen as the majority of incoming legislators were largely inexperienced in politics.
"The legislative and the budgeting function of the house are at stake if there are no serious efforts taken to upgrade the capacity of these new legislators," he said.
The presence of fresh faces does not particularly translate to a positive reform for the House, he said.
However, another analyst, Lili Romli, said the changeover of legislators represented fresh hope for democracy in Indonesia.
"This new batch comes from various backgrounds. But overall, they have higher education levels and are younger and of a more productive age as compared to the outgoing legislators," he said. According to research data from Kompas daily, almost 50 percent of the new legislators have bachelor degrees, with around 41 percent holding master degrees.
PDI-P's Arif Wibowo, an incoming legislator, said analysts had the right to question the capability of the new legislators.
"Proper capacity building is essential to equip us future legislators with the right organization skills and knowledge," he said. (fmb)