They have passed only seven out of 70 bills targeted for 2010, placing them far behind their counterparts in Malaysia, with 29 approved so far this year, and Singapore which passed 22.
But 30 legislators flew off this week on two separate multi-country trips, media said — a two-week visit to South Africa, South Korea and Japan to investigate the boy scout movement, and three weeks in the Netherlands and Norway to look into horticulture.
The trips provoked fierce criticism from Indonesians growing increasingly angry at the antics of their politicians.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono addresses the parliament in Jakarta.
The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency, known as Fitra, said the trips cost a total of 3.7 billion rupiah RM1.3 million), and were unnecessary because bills on scouting and horticulture were already almost complete and ready to be passed into law. It said the legislators were going on the trips “purely for leisure”.
In an angry response, House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie insisted foreign trips were essential to ensure pending legislation was properly researched.
“Every step the House takes is always deemed wrong,” he said. “This needs to be rectified.”
But legislators have scored plenty of own goals.
There has been a furious outcry over two other initiatives seen as particularly self-serving — a 1.6 trillion rupiah luxurious new parliament office building complete with swimming pool and fitness centre, and a proposed fund which they can use to lavish on private offices and staff in their electorates.
The general election last year marked the first time that Indonesians were allowed to vote directly for their lawmakers, instead of leaving the selection to political parties.
Many Indonesians and foreign investors had hoped this would herald a new era of accountability, result in a greater focus on passing key legislation needed to speed up civil service reform and infrastructure in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.
Those hopes have, so far, been disappointed.
Tens of thousands of people have joined Facebook groups to protest against the renovation of the parliament building, built in the 1960s. On one page, Facebook user Maria Kusuma wrote: “How can this country advance and prosper when our state officials loot public money under the pretext of helping the people?”
Some politicians agree there is no need for a new building, but plenty of others fail to see the problem.
“The fitness area and weights room are needed for the physical recovery of parliamentarians” and could help attract tourists, Michael Wattimena, a lawmaker from the president’s Democrat Party, told an online news portal.
Such an expensive project could also potentially be open to corruption in awarding contracts, but what riles Indonesians is the fact their parliamentarians do so little work anyway.
Many run private businesses while in office and play truant during plenary sessions. TV stations often show footage of a near-empty chamber on days when parliament is sitting, with those few attendees openly snoozing or taking phone calls.
Among legislation delayed by the sluggish proceedings in parliament are a social welfare bill, a bill on intelligence and security, and an amendment to the oil and gas bill.
A poll conducted by survey firm Chartika Politika this month showed that more than half of the respondents felt parliament had failed to carry out its main function, only 22.8 per cent thought it had managed the budget well, and 84 per cent thought lawmakers who regularly played truant should be fired.
Construction of the new building has been delayed because of the public outcry, but one lawmaker said it was unlikely the plan would be revoked altogether. Others are now focusing on reviving plans for an “aspiration fund”, which would disburse as much as US$40,000 (RM124,000) to each lawmaker for rental of an electorate office.
The scheme has been enthusiastically promoted by Golkar, the old guard political party led by tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, which said the funds would aid regional development.
Voters are not impressed by the pork barrel politics or frequent cases of corruption involving politicians.
When 26 former and current lawmakers were recently named graft suspects for allegedly taking bribes of up to 1.45 billion rupiah to vote for a former central bank governor, opposition party PDI-P complained to the Corruption Eradication Commission (or KPK), and Bakrie questioned whether the case should be a priority for the KPK, local media reported. Golkar and PDI-P members are among the suspects.
One protester, veteran actor and former soap star Pong Harjatmo, was arrested earlier this year after making his views very clear — he climbed onto the parliament’s roof to spray-paint it with the words “fair, honest, firm” — a reminder to legislators of the values Indonesians want them to uphold.
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