PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY BACKING THE GOVERNMENT
Agung Baskoro, a political analyst at the Trias Politika institute, said protests have repeatedly taken place outside the parliament building over policies widely seen as self-serving and against the public interest, including the allowance hike.
He added that parliament has also failed to exercise its check-and-balance role over the government, leaving citizens dissatisfied with Prabowo’s policies feeling unrepresented.
Of the 580 seats in the House, 470 – or 81 percent – are held by parties in Prabowo’s ruling coalition. This overwhelming majority, Agung said, has left lawmakers “complacent and forgetful”.
“They’ve become little more than a rubber stamp for the government. If oversight, legislation, budgeting, and representation were functioning as they should, people would not be taking to the streets over and over again,” Agung said.
As protests turned violent on Friday, House Speaker Puan Maharani issued an apology.
“On behalf of all members and leaders of the House, we apologise if we have not fully carried out our duties as representatives of the people,” Puan said.
According to Kunto of Padjadjaran University, Puan’s apology came too late.
“As Speaker of the House, she should have apologised when offensive and provocative remarks from lawmakers first emerged. Had she done so, public anger might not have escalated this far,” Kunto said.
Analysts noted that parliament needs to improve the way it communicates with the public to avoid making statements that only inflame anger.
“An apology alone is not enough – there must also be concrete action through policy changes, including cancelling or postponing the allowance hike,” said Agung from Trias Politica.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indonesia-protest-violence-analysis-prabowo-response-threat-5324011
