Febriamy Hutapea – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's bulky coalition in the House of Representatives was being blamed for the soft stance of political parties in responding to the current conflict between the Corruption Eradication Commission and the National Police, an analyst said on Tuesday.
"The House so far has not delivered on its monitoring function, particularly in regards to Yudhoyono's decisions on managing the conflict between police and the antigraft body," said Adi Sueyadi Culla, a political analyst from Hasanuddin University, during a discussion conducted at the House.
Adi said that the establishment of an independent team to verify and process the legal facts behind the decision to arrest suspended antigraft officials Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah was not the right solution, and did not live up to the public's expectations.
"The establishment of the fact finding team is only a lofty solution, while what people need is a real move which gets at the core of problem, not a decision which does not offer substance," he said.
Adi said that the political parties in the House were expected to give a clear response to Yudhoyono's much criticized decision to establish the independent fact finding team. "This is the impact of the bulky coalition. The House should push Yudhoyono to create law certainty," he added.
Lawmaker Achmad Rubae, from the National Mandate Party (PAN), admitted that the soft stance of his party was a consequence of joining the coalition with the Democratic Party.
"We're in a difficult situation. On one hand, we have to be very careful in issuing statements because we have to be in line with the coalition's spirit, but on the other hand, we will be deemed ignorant if we keep silent," Achmad said.
However, Achmad added that his party would wait and oversee the new fact finding team. "Above all, we still want to do something for the people because we still want to be on their side," he said.
Desmon Mahesa, a legislator from Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra), said that the current public pressure showed distrust over the move made by Yudhoyono in responding to the conflict between the police and KPK.
"The public holds high expectations for Yudhoyono, but the reality [of his decision] didn't meet their expectations," he said.
Desmon said he also regretted Yudhoyono's decision to establish the fact finding team, which he deemed as interferring the legal process. "This is an intervention into the criminal court. With the estasblishment of the team, it shows that the president no longer trusts the police," he said.