The Problem of Controlling Power

THE PROBLEM OF CONTROLLING POWER

Indonesia under Suharto is not a democratic country although Suharto always claimed that what he did is ‘Pancasila democracy’. Indeed it was an authoritarian state. Power was concentrated in his hands alone. The parliament was just his puppet. Suharto’s downfall in 1998 marked a new era in Indonesia. The long - awaited democracy finally came. Democratic elections were held sucessfully in 1999 and 2004. Over the past ten years the power of the president has been limited by the law. The new parliament has been very powerful. In 2001 Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (People’s Consultative Assembly – the highest state body at the time) managed to impeach President Abdurrahman Wahid aka Gur Dur and replaced him with Megawati. The public was expectant that the new parliament would do well.

But several years later the public was very surprised and disappointed as the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (Commission on Eradication of Corruption) arrested some member of parliament on corruption charges. Here is a list of the members of parliament arrested by the KPK.

1.Sarjan Taher from Demokrat party, was arrested by the KPK on bribery charges. He was bribed by the local government to pass a bill on the status of forest in Sumatra. He was sentenced to four and a half year imprisonment.

2.Bulyan Royan from Bintang Reformasi (Reform Star) party, was arrested red handed by the KPK. He received bribe from a businessman to back him in the procurement process of patrol boat in the department of transportation. He was sentenced to six year imprisonment.

3.Al Amin Nasution from Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (United Development Party), was arrested by the KPK on the same case with Sarjan Taher. He was sentenced to eight year imprisonment.

4.Hamka Yandu from Golkar party is arrested on Bank Indonesia corruption charges. He is sentenced to three year imprisonment plus fine as much as one hundred fifty million Rupiah .

5.Yusuf Emir Feisal from Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (Nation Awakening Party) was arrested by the KPK on bribery case. He was bribed to pass a bill on a forest in Sumatra. He is still in the proces of trial.

6.Saleh Djasit from Golkar party is arrested on the case of procurement of fire brigade cars. He was sentenced to four year imprisonment.

7.Noor Adnan Razak from Partai Amanat Nasional (National Mandate Party) is arrested on the case of bribery of Bapeten project. He was sentenced to three year imprisonment.

8.Anthony Zeidra Abidin from Golkar party is arrested on the case of Bank Indonesia corruption. He was sentenced to four and a half year imprisonment plus two hundred and fifty million Rupiah of fine.

9.The latest one is the case of Abdul Hadi Jamal from PAN who is arrested red handed on bribery case. He received bribe from a businessman to back him to get a deal on harbor development project. The process is still going on.

Besides bribery cases, another serious problem is how to control the parliamenr budget on the so called ‘comparative study’. Each yaer a number of member of parliament went abroad on actvites that they called ‘comparative study’. It is not clear what they study there but one thing is clear – they spent a lot of people’s money. And it is clear that their main activity there is touring and shopping. The public is questioning its benefit for Indonesian people. They are suspicious that in reality it is vacationing using people’s money. But it is camouflaged as a legal activity. So far nobody can stop this activity. From time to time the parliament keep going abroad for ‘comparative study’.

Today the Indonesian public is very worried over a crucial bill of corruption trial. As we know the KPK is based on the law of corruption. But the law is considered against the contitution by Constitution Court. The court then give three year time to pas a new bill on corruption trial which will end by December 2009. But up to now there is no significant activities on the part of parliament to finish the bill on time. If the deadline is due and the bill is not yet finish, then the KPK will be void. That will be the end to the struggle against corruption. People are suspicious that the parliament is buying time. The parliament is using the campaign period to leave their job in the parliament so the bill will fail. They will take advantage that way.

Those cases perhaps is only a tip of an iceberg. The biggest part is perhaps still hidden under the sea of lies. Those cases also revealed one classic problem in politics : how to control power ? In the past we had problem of controlling the power of the president, today we have the problem of controlling the parliament. Both cases are equally complicated. Up to now Indonesia has not found a way to control abuse of parliamentary power.

So far KPK is excellent in eradictaing corruption. People appreciate KPK. But Indonesia must find a way to prevent corruption from happening again. Who can control the parliament and how ? How can we make a law to reduce their power while the power to pass a bill is in their hands ? Will they pass a bill that will reduce their power ? Can you help us ?