Indonesia's MPs: Elected by the people for the people?

While browsing the newspaper, I came across an article about Indonesian MPs that kind of intrigued me. As many of you probably know, Indonesia had recently completed the legislative as well as Presidential election. The days of the current Parliament are numbered and will soon be replaced by the newly elected and re-elected MPs.

Regardless of whether one is re-elected or not, I think it’s a moral obligation to do one’s job until the end, i.e until one completes his/her tour of duty. This is particularly so considering that one is a representative elected by the people for the people. I thus find it outrageous that some of these MPs have started to “take leave” and disappear altogether from the Parliament, practicing what Gandhi called politics without principle in his 7 deadly sins. As a result of their irresponsible actions, the Parliament does not meet its quorum and has to call off the sessions. This effectively turns the Parliament into nothing but a lame-duck institution, incapable of carrying out its duties, some of which requires its immediate attention.

What surprises me further is that those absentees include re-elected MPs. I can’t figure out their reasons for doing this but one thing is sure to me: they are people who shouldn’t run for election, let alone be elected if they can’t even meet the fundamental requirement of an MP.

This brings me to another issue, which is how these MPs can get elected in the first place. Clearly, there’s something wrong with the election process and these include money politics and lack of time for people to really know their representatives. A major overhaul of the process is no longer a choice, but a necessity for Indonesia.