Yanto Soegiarto – When people criticized Indonesian lawmakers' comparative study trip to Germany in April, the culprits remained silent at first but later said it was to study defense contracts overseas and that they used their own money to bring family.
Indonesian students studying abroad accused the lawmakers of wasting Rp 3.1 billion ($338,000) on the trip and likened them to wide-eyed, newly rich hillbillies visiting a modern city for the first time.
Ignoring the problems back home, where the nation is facing problems in fuel oil supply, increasing poverty and a widening social gap, the lawmakers visited expensive malls and shopped around Berlin – and were caught on YouTube.
Lawmakers also top the list of people who have been arrested as suspects for corruption so far this year, data from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) showed.
The lawmakers, who are seen by many as a new breed in society, powerful and rich, receive hefty salaries and fringe benefits such as free housing, electricity and transportation. They earn more than a cabinet minister and some are filthy rich, driving the latest luxury cars and sporting the latest fashions. But their attitude is most often regarded as childish, not trustworthy and selfish. They would do anything for money.
Why did they want to become lawmakers? Why is their attitude like that? These are questions to which House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung of the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P) has been trying to find answers. He conducted research on the attitudes and motivations of lawmakers for his doctoral thesis at Padjajaran University in Bandung.
His findings show that the House is mostly inhabited by less-fortunate, economically motivated people working for their own self-interest and welfare, instead of idealists seeking to promote the welfare of the people they represent. They don't live in homes provided by the House. They demand accommodation funds. They go on study visits abroad and skip important House meetings.
In Javanese philosophy, such an attitude is described as kere munggah mbale Petruk dadi ratu. That refers to Petruk, one of the five loyal subordinates of the king in Javanese wayang shadow puppet plays, who rises from the lower ranks to become a rich ruler. But then he changes from a simple, humble, loyal and honest character, distancing himself from the people and ethics.
Pramono's findings should be used as background when Indonesians go to the polls in 2014 to elect their new representatives. The elections are only two years away. Indonesia needs to change. We cannot afford to let the nation sink any deeper into a quagmire created by incompetent and crooked lawmakers.
[Yanto Soegiarto is managing editor at Globe Asia, a sister publication of the Jakarta Globe.]