10/21/2010
1:31 PM
Indonesia's House of Representatives is being given negative attention because of how corrupt its lawmakers are. 9% of the current lawmakers could be considered suspects in money scams, as well as 50 members of the previous house. Transparency International still sees this as a high proportion and currently ranks the institution as the most corrupt in Indonesia's government system. This year, members have not done a lick of work, passing only 7 bills total, and blame it on the "fresh meat" (70% of the body are first-term lawmakers). Also, their recent legislative attempts have been in the direction of "aspiration funds," basically money for the members. So the House of representatives is stealing money, and not passing legislation on important issues, taking vacation, and trying to pass legislation so that they'll have a whole stash of money to themselves. Since the president does not hold the power to veto legislation, the house's actions go unchecked, thus "deepening corruption that threatens to breed disillusion about democracy."
I don't find this story hard to believe, nor do I question the legitimacy of the article, since its coming from the NY Times. I am more shocked than anything, to hear about just how deep the level of corruption is. This article quotes a democratic politician saying that money is the root of democracy in Indonesia. To me, that isn't democracy, that's ridiculous. The ideal thing to suggest would be a more effective governmental system where the house's actions can be balanced by modes of review. I can't tell if that's the reaction that the article wanted- for the reader to end up comparing the Indonesian system with the U.S. system, because I'm not trying to say that the U.S. system is the most effective by any means, maybe just more effective than the Indonesian political system. Anyways, this relates to human rights violations because the Indonesian people are the true victims here, being directly and indirectly robbed by the politicians that they elected. The Indonesian public is being lied to and left unprioritized by their politicians. A policy change is what's needed most.
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