Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Indonesia – With petty politicking consuming much of the time and energy of policy makers this past year, public welfare has gone largely ignored, a political analyst says.
The four major political parties have found themselves entangled in a string of controversies and legal cases.
The ruling Democrats have been preoccupied with the Bank Century bailout scandal that saw Sri Mulyani Indrawati resign as finance minister, and the Golkar Party has been busy distancing itself from the case of former tax official Gayus Tambunan.
A bribery scandal related to the election of a central bank deputy governor has dogged the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), while the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is under scrutiny after one of its lawmakers, Misbakhun, was sentenced to a year in jail for fraud.
Political analyst Sukardi Rinakit said that lost in all this scandal and intrigue was the public interest. "Politics has become ineffective," he said. "There has been no political decision that has significantly improved people's lives.
"All the political actors are playing around with these cases; they attack one another over the latest scandal. One party corners its rival over one case, and then they find themselves backed into a corner over another case."
He said the parties in the ruling coalition were also busy lobbying for seats in the event of a cabinet reshuffle, and were unwilling to criticize the government over its performance for fear of being locked out.
Meanwhile, the opposition appears to be interested only in scoring political points, attacking the government but never offering alternative policies that might improve public welfare.
Sukardi suggested that politicians needed to return to the Constitution and its directive that they work for the good of the people.
Trimedya Panjaitan, a senior PDI-P official, acknowledged that the past year had seen political parties either going on the attack or the defensive over the drumbeat of legal cases and scandals.
Parties are embroiled in their own legal problems and have been unable to distance themselves from the morass, Trimedya said. "We must admit, it's not a good situation; it's an unhealthy situation for all of us. But it can't be avoided," he said.
Trimedya accused the government of exacerbating the problem by slinging as much mud as the parties instead of helping to ensure fair legal settlements.
Priyo Budi Santoso, from Golkar, agreed that there needed to be a major change in politics starting in 2011.
"It's a new threat for our democracy," he said. "The people might become so fed up with democracy that they choose to leave it behind."