Robertus Wardi – Lawmakers at the House of Representatives only work earnestly when the issue at hand affects their parties' hold on power, an activist said on Thursday.

Lusius Karus, a member of the Concerned Citizens for the Indonesian Legislature (Formappi), was speaking after lawmakers finally passed a bill that lays down the rules for the 2014 elections, following a missed deadline and prolonged debate.

Even a slight miscalculation could result in their parties suffering a disadvantage in the future, Lusius said. Therefore they were being very meticulous, although usually that wasn't the case, he added.

"The election draft law is one that will determine the fate of political parties in the 2014 elections," Lusius said. "Because it was the fate of the parties that was at stake, the DPR [House] was in no hurry to pass that law."

He said the politicians improperly put their own interests ahead of those they were supposed to serve.

"Members of the House are required to prioritize the people's interests," he said. The poor job they were doing made them overly concerned with manipulating the mechanisms of power to maintain their hold on it, Lusius said, adding that they should instead focus exclusively on their constituents.

"These politicians' fear of losing future elections is the result of their inability to do their jobs," he said. "Their fear that not enough people will vote for them is a reflection of their failure to answer the people's mandate."

Lawmakers' most recent plenary meetings, including the one two weeks ago where they decided to postpone raising the price of subsidized fuel, clearly showed their priorities were their image and the future of their parties, Lusius said. The legislators were out of touch, he added.

"When the nation is fearing a crisis because of natural disaster, when people are panicking amid fears of another tsunami, the lawmakers go about in their air-conditioned hall, busy making moves to save their parties in the upcoming elections," he said. "The party elites trade in legislative thresholds while people in Sumatra face a threat to their lives."

The election law's long saga finally reached a conclusion on Thursday afternoon. House party factions had been in disagreement over several issues that would have affected how elections were conducted.

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), whose future in the pro-government coalition is a stake following its opposition to the government's proposed fuel price hike, on Thursday was again criticized, this time for taking the side of the ruling Democratic Party in one of the issues pertaining to the elections bill.