Indonesian Parliament Research Articles

Term Limitation of Indonesian Parliamentarians Seen from Constitutionalism

This article intends to use a constitutionalist lens to examine why term limits for Indonesia's People's Representative Council and Regional Representative Council are necessary. The article employs the statutory approach, the conceptual approach, and the comparative approach to writing about normative law. The article makes use of deductive and inductive reasoning strategies grounded in prescriptive analysis. Due to the inability to locate a clause or provision that regulates limitedly regarding the limitation of the term of office of members of the People's Representative Council and Regional Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia, from a constitutionalist's perspective, the paper concludes that such a limitation is urgently necessary. Since constitutionalism necessitates checks and balances, it follows that this goes against the Republic of Indonesia's constitution. As a result, the article concludes that three (3) factors emphasize the necessity of term limits for members of the Indonesian Parliament as a means of strengthening the principle of constitutionalism: (1) the existence of a legal vacuum, (2) the poor quality of Indonesian democracy, and (3) the importance of leadership regeneration.

Passing the Sexual Violence Crime Law in Indonesia: Reflection of a Gender-Sensitive Parliament?

After a decade of deliberation, the draft sexual violence eradication bill was finally passed by the Indonesian parliament on 12 April 2022, enacted as the Sexual Violence Crime Law (<em>Undang-Undang Tindak Pidana Kekerasan Seksual</em>). The draft, which was first initiated by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (<em>Komnas Perempuan</em>) and later adopted as a parliamentary initiative, sparked controversy both inside and outside parliament. This article aims to describe the law-making process and identify the critical actors and acts as well as institutional responses that led to the passing of the law. It considers whether the experience can be interpreted as a reflection of a gender-sensitive parliament. Using a qualitative research approach, we identified critical actors and various responses from the parliament as an institution in responding to the dynamics of resistance and encouragement for the draft law to be passed. Our research material consists of interviews, news articles, and official document data. We found that critical actors and actions are key in the law-making process along with strong political will and collaboration between lawmakers, government representatives, civil society organizations, and the media, but the passage of this legislation alone does not fulfill the full requirement of a gender-sensitive parliament.

Interpreting multilateral diplomacy in the Indonesian Parliament’s debates on climate crisis and sustainability

ABSTRACT Generally ‘diplomacy’ belongs to the tasks of the executive government, especially to the foreign affairs services. Nowadays, diplomacy includes everyone, including parliaments in a multilateral setting, especially when discussing global issues, such as climate change. This article discusses the parliamentary diplomacy practices of the Indonesian Parliament which are claimed to support multilateralism and foreign cooperation in international gatherings. The data is studied from the international events that this committee organized and Indonesian parliamentary meetings abroad in 2017–22, seen from the ideal parliamentary aspects of deliberation, representation, responsibility, and sovereignty. The data reveals that while the climate crisis is agreed to be more critical and awareness has been built among the members of parliament in this committee, the whole parliamentary members or the Indonesian Parliament as the institution does not fully acknowledge it yet. Legislation has not yet been enacted to tackle the climate crisis. Consequently, despite such sporadic efforts, the actions remain small, and inter-parliamentary diplomacy does not result in anything concrete. Multilateral diplomacy from parliament is still limited in this case.

Juridical Analysis of Indonesian Parliamentary Ethical Committee: Analyzing Supervision Function within Indonesian Parliament

This research was made under the basis that the role of the People's Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat/DPR) the Republic of Indonesia supervision that fell to the Parliamentary Ethical Committee (Mahkamah Kehormatan Dewan/MKD) has not yet been fair and how to ensure that the Ethical Implementation in Indonesian Parliament can be done properly in a constructivism paradigm where the type of research method used is normative juridical and the specifications of this research have a descriptive-analytical nature with the approach used by the author being a statutory approach. The research results found that the supervision by the DPR of the Republic of Indonesia Honorary Court has not yet been fair was because most of Ethical Committee Member were fellow DPR Member causing the political interests of the respective political parties does not want their members to be sanctioned, even at the cost of not upholding the DPR ethics. Therefore, to improve the system for handling cases and supervision, the DPR Honorary Body, researchers found several solutions that can be implemented based on comparisons with Ethics Committees in the Parliaments of other countries. First, strengthening the independence of the Ethical Committee through external, non-partisan selection processes would mitigate political influence. Clearer ethical codes with enforceable penalties are crucial, ensuring accountability for violations. Legal protections to shield Ethical Committee decisions from political pressures are also proposed. Expanding Ethical Committee authority and sanctions, alongside mandatory public reporting, would enhance transparency and compliance. These reforms aim to address current challenges and elevate ethical standards within the Indonesian Parliament effectively.

Dynamics of the Indonesian Parliament in Formulating Food Laws to Achieve Food Security at the End of the New Order

Dynamics of the Indonesian Parliament in Formulating Food Laws to Achieve Food Security at the End of the New Order

The Feminisation of Indonesia's Political Parties: Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)

The political representation of women in the Indonesian parliament has increased since the implementation of the affirmation policy through quotas, although the number has not yet reached 30%. In addition, the percentage of women placed in the management structure of political parties has also increased. In addition, the percentage of women's candidacy in each election period also showed an increasing trend. This article aims to analyze the feminization process that occurred in PDI Perjuangan and PKS, using the model of feminization of political parties introduced by Sarah Childs. By using a qualitative approach, in which data were obtained from party statues (AD/ART documents of political parties) and parties' documents of meetings, General Elections Commission (KPU) data, and data sourced from online media, it was found that the level feminization of PDI Perjuangan higher than PKS. The difference in the level of feminization is due to differences in representational dimension and policy.

Open Parliament: Study from Indonesia and Philippines

This research aims to analyze the trend of open parliaments in Indonesia and the Philippines and the commitment of the parliaments of the two countries. This research uses a qualitative approach with bibliometric analysis and content analysis methods. The results of this research show that the Indonesian open parliament study has a higher number of publications, citations, h-index, and g-index, so that it has a greater impact and productivity. Even though Indonesian open parliament articles have higher total link strength and occurrences, the Philippine open parliament study is more focused on certain topics. There are more themes and clusters in the Indonesian open parliament study, and each cluster describes the relationship between certain themes and focuses. Network visualization, overlay visualization, and density visualization generate potential research themes regarding this study in the future. Even though the Indonesian and Philippine parliaments have stated their commitment to support open parliaments in both countries, the Indonesian parliament's commitment has a stronger influence through the formation of an open parliament institution.

Analyzing gender equality in the US and Indonesian parliaments through liberal feminism theory

Gender inequality is a persistent issue experienced by women worldwide, often intertwined with their limited participation in political spheres. This study examines the political involvement of women in the parliaments of Indonesia and the United States of America (USA) through the lens of liberal feminism theory. Employing qualitative decryption approaches with a comparative study design, data collected from both the Indonesian Parliament and the USA Parliament were understood, recorded, phrased, compared and analyzed within the framework of liberal feminism theory, focusing on the "Right in Public Life and Politics". The results of the study revealed that while the Government of Indonesia has enacted legislation mandating a minimum of 30% female representation in political parties, both the Indonesian and US parliaments exhibit disproportionately low levels of female members compared to their male counterparts. A notable distinction between the two lies in the parliamentary leadership, with Indonesia being led by a woman and the USA by men. To enhance women's political participation, it is imperative for both governments to rigorously enforce regulations and sanctions against political parties. Additionally, efforts to dismantle the prevailing masculine culture in various societies are crucial in order to foster gender equality and justice, thereby realizing gender democracy.

Prospective Peri-Urban Areas Around the New Capital City of Nusantara, Indonesia: Sustainable Development and New Urban Agenda Perspectives

In 2022, the Indonesian Parliament passed the historical new capital city bill, commencing the relocation of the country’s capital from Jakarta to Nusantara in Kalimantan Timur. This relocation has been predicted to impact the surrounding areas by, for instance, triggering (peri-)urbanization. This research aimed to analyze the locations and roles of peri-urban areas and discuss the processes that drive their emergence and development in the context of the New Urban Agenda. For this purpose, potential peri-urban areas were determined by examining three spatial elements: the development level, accessibility, and position of a village (administrative unit) relative to the capital. Supporting primary data were acquired through a field survey, and secondary data were obtained from the Village Potential Statistics (PODES) from BPS-Statistics Indonesia. Results show that the identified potential peri-urban areas had the following characteristics: (1) situated within the new capital’s development zone, (2) directly adjacent to the capital, (3) having a high level of development and adequate access to the capital, and (4) currently parts of the peri-urban areas of Samarinda and Balikpapan Cities. According to the New Urban Agenda, peri-urban areas can help provide open green space to support rural-urban linkage and perform the new capital’s ecological functions.

Challenges on Party Institutionalization: The Broken Linkage of Three Faces of Party in the National Democrats on Promoting Renewable Energy Bill

This article explores institutionalization challenges in the National Democrats (NasDem) Party in promoting the Renewable Energy Bill, viewed from the party’s three faces. NasDem is strategically involved in policy decision-making in the Indonesian parliament, but the three faces of the party are yet to be seen. Despite being established over a decade ago, the direction of institutionalization is still transforming, especially in the linkage between public office and the party at the grassroots. The research question is: How do the three faces of the party in NasDem impact the challenges of institutionalization? Drawing from the Renewable Energy Bill case studies, we argue that three challenges exist. First, a personalistic party’s strong influence leads to failure in two-way communications, especially at the grassroots. Second, the vision of the renewable energy law was notimplemented at the grassroots because the party had to focus on regional policies. Third, although the renewable energy vision has not been fully implemented, the idea of ‘green politics’ has been realized by the party wing at the grassroots through the political education program.

Indonesia parliamentary reform and legislation quality backsliding phenomenon: case of Indonesia post reformasi

ABSTRACT Legislative quality and parliamentary reforms are inseparable prominent agendas that sought the implementation of democracy and rule of law into parliamentary functions and role to support their existence as appropriate deliberate legislation frameworks to tackle legislation quality backsliding phenomenon. Despite several parliamentary reform programmes carried out under the auspices of international assistance bodies, the results are not linear with the quality of the legislation, which is a setback for law making in Indonesia today. Therefore, this research focused on questioning, observing, analysing and determining the dynamics of parliamentary reforms in Indonesia in order to reinforce the prospective framework. This includes the prospects for improving the quality of legislation despite the phenomenon of backsliding within the institutions, in addition to the methodology, management, or grand design of parliamentary roles. Based on the integrated planning of legislation, bureaucratic and institutional system reform, and the institutionalisation or internalisation of legal norms in the relations of the Indonesian parliament, these findings revealed a proposed approach to parliamentary reform and deliberation on legislative quality improvement to enhance its effectiveness in Indonesia and ensure its application as a tool for comprehensive developmental change.

Open Data Parliament: Implementation And Challenges In Indonesia

Open Parliament is a movement that encourages transparency, participation, and accountability in the legislative process in parliament. One form is data openness, which is a tool for the public to understand the programs and performance of the legislature. Data disclosure in parliament is also carried out to answer public unrest over parliament's attitude which is considered closed in discussing legislation products. The research will reveal how parliamentary data disclosure has been running in Indonesia and other countries, namely Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The research paradigm is carried out qualitatively and to answer research questions, data collection methods use interviews and literature studies. The results of the study revealed that data openness in Indonesia currently does not fully meet the principles of government data openness, namely primary, timely, license-free, non-discriminatory, and supports the data processing process using machines. Therefore, the Indonesian Parliament needs to make efforts to improve data disclosure services based on the above principles, with the aim of providing easy access to data and meeting people's data needs.

Modern Parliament Image: Managing Transparency, Information Technology and Representation

The People's Legislative Council of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI), like parliaments in other countries, is developing its institutional governance towards a modern parliament. The idea of a modern parliament is a strategy to increase public trust in the DPR RI. This study aims to generate public views about the image of a modern parliament as the embodiment of good government governance. Using the case study method to find the actual image representation. Conducting interviews with various sources of information both internal and external stakeholders and also reviewing documents for the validity of the data. The study found that the achievement of modern parliamentary indicators, namely transparency, technology, and representation, was still experiencing obstacles in the form of not fulfilling these three indicators. Of the three, only technology indicators have shown their best achievements in the form of easy public access to official information on the parliament website. Transparency and representation have not been fully open and in accordance with public expectations. Seen by the large number of public participation in the form of criticism, suggestions, proposals that oversee the performance of the parliament. This study concludes that the modern parliament as an embodiment of good governance in the Indonesian Parliament is carried out through strengthening the aspects of transparency, technology and representation. Efforts towards a modern parliament in realizing good governance still need time and follow the dynamics of society and the changing times.

The Nation’s Commitment in Old Age Insurance for Workers

The existence of a nation is to fulfill multiple needs and wants, that requires the people to work together in order to fulfill their needs – as they could not fulfill it has individually. Thus, based on each person’s skill, each of them has their own tasks and works together to fulfill their needs. This unity is called society or nation. In a sovereign nation framework based on the 1945 Constitution, one of them is to provide social security for every citizen Social security is also stated in the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and further emphasized in the International Labour Organizations Convention No. 102/1952. Aligned with those regulations, the Indonesian Parliament (MPR-RI) in TAP No. X/MOR/2001 assigned the President to create the Nasional Social Security System (SJSN) to provide an integrated and comprehensive social security. Indonesia, as a part of the global world, has signed numerous world conventions and must be held accountable in improving the social welfare and protection for its citizens. In the implementation of JHT-SJSN, the findings are: (1) the nation’s commitment has been relatively weak; (2) the regulations have been inconsistent; (3) the regulations have multiple interpretations; and (4) the advocacy and socialization have not been maximised. These findings are interconnected with each other. The first, second, and third findings are based on the same subject, which are Regulation No. 46, No. 60, and the Labour Minister Regulation No. 19/2015, that were cascaded from the SJSN Act. The fourth finding is subject to the efforts of BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. BPJS Ketenagakerjaan must intensify the advocacy and socialization of JHT philosophy and benefits for workers, so that they can age gracefully. BPJS Ketenagakerjaan Management has to create the necessary system and operational procedures.

Evaluation of the Zipper System in Efforts to Increase Women’s Representation to 30 Percent in Parliament

The low representation of women in parliament is a global problem, especially in Indonesia. The status quo shows that the role and representation of women in parliament is still very low, which has implications for legislation products that are not inclusive. Women are vital in legislation, especially in micro-policy aspirations related to welfare, education, equality, and household issues. The affirmation policy with a minimum female candidacy quota of 30 percent in Indonesia is implemented through the zipper system. However, unfortunately, it is still ineffective because women's representation is still very low. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method to analyze the inequality of women's representation in the Indonesian parliament. The data used secondary data, which has been collected and processed by other parties. The result of this study is an evaluation of the zipper system, which is still ineffective because it depends on the placement of candidate sequence numbers and political party awareness. The placement of women in number 1 is only 19 percent, while in number three, it reaches 67 percent, and in number 6, 65 percent. It has a big impact on the probability of low electability. With women's representation, women's voices can be heard and fought for in government, thus realizing an equal and inclusive government. Revamping the zipper system by requiring the placement of female candidates at number 1 is an effective solution to increase women's representation in parliament in line with descriptive representation theory, which emphasizes the importance of proportional representation from various groups of society in government.

The Role of Community Organisations as Interest Groups in Palu City: A Case Study of Alkhairaat Organisation

The study analyses the role of the Alkhairaat Community Organisation (Ormas) as an interest group in Palu City, Central Sulawesi Province. As an interest group, Alkhairaat can impact regional and national political policy formation. This articulates society’s needs with the limited ability of political parties due to differences in ideology, beliefs, and goals. This study is based on the concept of interest groups by Gabriel Almond in 2004. This research uses qualitative research methods. The study was conducted in Palu City, Central Sulawesi Province. Data was collected through interview techniques determined by purposive sampling, besides conducting participant and direct observation. The secondary data is in books, journals, reports and other documents. The results showed that Alkhairaat had a role in policy formulation through the involvement of Abnaul Khairaat, who served as a member of the Indonesian Parliament and Regional Heads representing the Sejahterah Justice Party (PKS), Golkar and Democrat. The study concluded that Alkhairaat has a role in policy formulation, both regional and national policies. The position of interest groups in the political system lies between the government and the people. In fact, with interest groups like Alkhairaat, the government must create a space as big as it is and place it precisely because it has helped the government articulate the community's wishes.

Transformation of the Legislative System in Indonesia Based on the Principles of Good Legislation

The decision of the Constitutional Court Number 91/PUU-XVIII/2020 regarding the case of the Formal Examination of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation, which was followed up by the stipulation of Law Number 13 of 2022, resulted in a transformation of the legal system in Indonesia. The political dynamics of legislation that has given rise to many lawsuits to the Constitutional Court shows that the quality of the formation of good laws must be improved, guided by a series of principles of good legislation. This article investigates how and to what extent the Indonesian parliament carries out its legislative function, as well as the transformative viability of a good legislation system in the future. This article argues that the transformation of a good legislative system requires: regulation, capacity and institutions that promote transparency, participation, effectiveness and efficiency, from planning to evaluation (ex ante and ex post). In addition, a pattern of consultation and communication based on public benefits is needed. This article suggests that the transformation of the legislative system needs to reformulate the planning, institutions and capacity for the formation of laws. In addition, the authorization of the use of ICT needs to be accelerated as a means of digitizing legislation.

The Elusive 30%: Analyzing the Barriers to Female Representation in the Indonesian Parliament for East Nusa Tenggara (NTT)

This study delves into the evolution of women’s involvement in global politics, with a specific focus on their journey to leadership roles, using Indonesia as a case study. The research adopts a phenomenological paradigm and employs a qualitative methodology. Despite the existence of a 30% quota for women’s representation, the progress in increasing the number of women in legislative roles has only marginally surpassed this benchmark. This slow development underscores the need to address the issue of women’s representation, considering that certain policies lack a pro-women attitude, such as the Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence. By drawing from previous research, personal analysis, and interviews with women representatives in the Indonesian Parliament for East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), this research seeks to comprehend the obstacles encountered by women during campaigns and the implications of these challenges for their political representation. Additionally, the study investigates why the set quotas are not being met and the impact of the increasing yet still insufficient representation of women on government policies. Preliminary findings indicate a rise in women’s political representation, but the anticipated substantial impact on pro-women policies is yet to be observed. This study highlights the significance of the role of political parties in nurturing competent women leaders. Its aim is to provide recommendations to the Indonesian Parliament and commissions, particularly those addressing women’s health and employment issues.
 Keywords: women, legislative, leadership, transformational

“Dia Dikader”: Women’s NGOs roles, networks, and the agency of women’s legislative candidates in West Sumatra

ABSTRACT Previous research, on the representation of women in the Indonesian parliament in the 2019 General Election, identifies two common strategies used by women legislative candidates to win. One is to draw on women's networks to mobilize support and the other is to rely on the dynastic power. This paper contributes to existing studies by exploring the vital role of women NGOs in supplying and preparing women's legislative candidates through a case study of the West Sumatra Provincial Parliament in the 2019 General Election. Qualitative research methods were used for this research, drawing on in-depth interviews with women legislative candidates of West Sumatra Provincial Parliament and women activists. This paper reveals that the rise of women candidates in West Sumatra was “prepared” (dikader) by women's NGOs, namely Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia of West Sumatra and Wanita Islam of West Sumatra. These women NGOs have played an important role in getting women elected by providing political training, consultation, moral support, and access to women's networks. Women NGOs' support for these women candidates arose from their long-term socio-political relationship. This research has also revealed that the women candidates exercised a great deal of agency in reaching the voters through these women's NGOs and networks.

Political Parties and Women’s Representation in the Indonesian Parliament 2009-2019

As the transmission belt linking people's aspirations to the government, the political party has a crucial role in preparing actors to become candidates for people's representatives. Since the enactment of affirmative policies both in elections and internal parties, the number of women in parliament has never met the 30% quota as expected. During the ten years from 2009 to 2019, the number of women in the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) seats only ranged from 17-20 percent. This article examines the influence of political parties' characteristics on women's representation in the Indonesian parliament in the 2009-2019 period. This research uses four party characteristics by Sundström Stockemer as variables that will be analyzed through linear regression models. The research results show that the vote size variable is the only variable significantly influencing women's representation in parliament. The estimated trend of women's representation in parliament shows an increase in the upcoming 2024 elections. However, it is still far from the target of 30%. Hence, it needs a progressive affirmative policy in the form of reserved seats to encourage proportionality in the policy-making forum.