Arientha Primanita – The new Jakarta Legislative Council was sworn in on Tuesday afternoon, with more than two-thirds of the council comprised of new faces, reflecting widespread disenchantment with the previous legislators.
Meanwhile, at least 100 demonstrators gathered outside to demand the new legislators pay more attention than their predecessors to the problems besetting the poor in the capital.
Hendri Anggoro, a spokesman for the Street Parliament Alliance, which organized the demonstration, said the previous representatives failed to represent the interests of the poor, demanded the new legislators do more.
"The previous legislators did not fight for the people's welfare," he said. "We see hope in the new members inaugurated today. Hopefully, they will remember the promises they made to the people during their campaigns."
Hendri said the Street Parliament Alliance wanted the council, also known as the DPRD, to fight to create jobs and provide free education and better health and housing services for the poor.
During the demonstration, staged in front of the DPRD building in Central Jakarta, the protesters sealed their mouths with duct tape. Hendri said it was a symbol of the distrust in the previous council members. "Because there are still many poor people who do not have access to health or education services," he said.
Only 23 of the 75 council members sworn in to a new five year term sat of the previous council.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party dominated the new council with 32 seats. It was followed by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) with 18 seats, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with 11 seats, the Golkar and United Development (PPP) parties with seven each, and a number of parties with a half-dozen seats or less.
The council agreed to appoint the Democratic Party's Ferial Sofyan as temporary chairman, and Triwisaksana of the PKS as temporary deputy chief. The council will soon form its five commissions, each in charge of specific issues.
New member Wanda Hamidah said she wanted to serve on Commission E, which oversees education and social welfare. "If it is possible, I want to endorse a bylaw on the protection of children and to revise the bylaw on street kids," said Wanda, a member of the National Mandate Party (PAN).
A well-known public figure, Wanda said she hoped to provide improved education to all the children in the nation's capital.
Golkar member M. Ashraf Ali said that he also wanted to serve on Commission E. "Commission E relates to people's lives in such areas as education and health. These are basic problems in Jakarta," he said.
Ashraf said the new city council members must be pro-people and reflect that in the budget. He said it took the involvement from all concerned parties – the council, the executive branch and the people – to develop Jakarta.
During the inauguration ceremony, Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto, in a speech read by Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, said that council members must exercise their rights in accordance with the law, and be analytical and objective in solving problems.