JAKARTA: President Prabowo Subianto’s pursuit of political stability through a dominant ruling coalition has turned the House of Representatives into a rubber stamp for his administration, undermining the legislature’s ability to scrutinise government decisions, challenge executive power and represent the public’s interests.
With seven of the eight political parties in the House backing the government, a series of controversial legislation and decisions have been passed quickly with little critical debate and meaningful public participation, raising concerns about the erosion of checks and balances, analysts said.
A prime example was a populist piece of legislation on manpower protection, which was passed by the House last week, about a month after Prabowo assigned government representatives to start the joint deliberation with lawmakers. The House touted the new law as a “gift” to workers, following Prabowo’s promise during May Day commemorations.
Another example happened early this month, when the House approved Prabowo’s nomination of Gen. Suyudi Ario Seto to replace Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo as the new police chief after only a 30-minute confirmation hearing that did not include a question-and-answer session with lawmakers.
Other contentious moves include the passing of the revision to the military law in March last year that allowed armed forces personnel to hold more civilian posts, following what critics described as opaque deliberations, including several closed-door meetings at a hotel in Jakarta.
Similar concerns over rushed deliberations also surrounded the passage of revision to the police law in June, which allowed serving officers to take up certain civilian government posts, prompting rights activists to warn of the police’s expanding influence beyond law enforcement and the potential erosion of its professionalism.
The military and police’s expanded role has been linked to Prabowo’s growing reliance on the two institutions to help support his ambitious free nutritious meal and food self-sufficiency programmes, which critics say risks further blurring the line between national defense, law enforcement and civilian affairs.
The dominance of the ruling coalition has helped Prabowo maintain political stability and push through his policy agenda, but it has also sidelined dissenting voices and weakened the House’s ability to scrutinise government decisions, political analyst Ari Nurcahyo said.
“The House today has effectively become a rubber stamp for the government,” he said, adding that stronger oversight could have helped identify shortcomings in government policies and programmes and improve their implementation.
“The oversight function is now largely administrative and ceremonial. Some lawmakers individually may raise critical voices, but their ability to challenge the government is constrained by political party commitments to the ruling coalition and the interests of the coalition,” he said.
Analyst Agung Baskoro said consolidation of power under Prabowo has made political decision making in the legislature increasingly dependent on the direction of the President and his Gerindra Party as the leader of the ruling coalition.
“As a result, any proposed changes to legislation may need a form of approval to be fast-tracked without going through the processes that is normally followed,” he said. He stressed the importance of broad public participation in the legislative process to ensure laws are of high quality and comply with higher-level laws and regulations, reducing the risk of legal challenges at the Constitutional Court.
Constitutional law expert Feri Amsari warned that the ruling coalition’s dominance could also erode safeguards against the abuse of state power, allowing government officials to exercise their authority with fewer constraints.
“Checks and balances are essential to ensuring sound constitutional governance,” he said, adding that without them, state officials could become increasingly driven by their own interests, increasing the risk of abuses of power.
Lawmaker Sugiat Santoso of Gerindra dismissed such concerns, insisting that the House remains responsive to public concerns and incorporates public opinions into lawmaking. “The current House has been the most responsive legislature in addressing the people’s concerns,” he said.
He pointed to the passing of the long-stalled domestic workers protection law in April and legislative discussions on the welfare of app-based motorcycle taxi drivers, which led to a presidential regulation lowering the commissions that ride-hailing companies take from drivers for each trip to eight per cent from 20 per cent.
“In my experience over the past two years as a lawmaker, meaningful public participation has been implemented in the legislative process,” he said. Government Communications Agency officials were not immediately available for comment on Monday (Oct 12). - The Jakarta Post/ANN
