DPR Leadership Coup

THE defeat of the parties behind presidential candidate Joko Widodo over the revision of Law No.27/2009 does not mean the end of the world. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) can still do something to mitigate the negative impact of the revision.

One day before the presidential election the House of Representatives (DPR) held a plenary session to revise the Law on the MPR, DPR, DPD and DPRD (MD3). One significant change will clearly affect the PDI-P and its coalition partners over which commissions and bodies it will be able to control. According to the old version of the law, the DPR leadership depends on the outcome of the legislative election. The winning party automatically becomes the DPR speaker, while the four deputy speaker positions would have been filled by representatives of the next winning parties.

July 15, 2014