Aid-supported 'participatory recess' programs are promoting healthier communication between MPs and constituents. But it won't transform politics unless parties sign on wholesale.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tStephen Sherlock<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t28 August, 2018\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t <\/em><\/p>\n There is an urgent need to hold Parliament responsible for organizing their basic duties during this pandemic.\u00a0 As the legislative branch of the government, and as representatives of the Indonesian people, Parliament must perform \u201cchecks and balances\u201d on other branches of the government and report those results to the public. They must represent the needs of Indonesian people, especially now, to the Executive and Judicial branches of the government. They should conduct dialogue, hold meetings, and support and review new regulations concerning policies related to the pandemic. The more dialogue and discussions are organised, the more engaged the stakeholders and the people to the information and issue of the government during the pandemic. This ensures the security, sustainability, and transparency of government, improving the public\u2019s access to numerous essential services, such as health care, education welfare, and justice.<\/p>\n To achieve this, at least three actors must be simultaneously involved\u2014the State, political parties and citizens. Firstly, the state should have clear indicators for the allocation of subsidies to parties, based on parties\u2019 representative performance. The more actively MPs engage their constituents, the better. Of course, this will not be popular among politicians. Secondly, parties, including their cadres, should recognise the incentive that attending to voters\u2019 needs offers to those who want to win elections, although pragmatics voters are also hurdles in Indonesian elections. Parties, as institutions, should consistently champion standpoints favourable to their respective constituencies, not just during elections but even post-elections. This will make parties more responsive to their constituents, and forge a unifying function among their constituents. Thirdly, citizens must actively hold their representatives to account, particularly during this pandemic, by demanding their elected leaders to take more active roles during the pandemic instead of serving their own interests.<\/p>\n The post The Malady of Ignorance? Indonesian Parliament During the COVID-19 Pandemic<\/a> appeared first on New Mandala<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n This post was originally published on New Mandala<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" During this pandemic, \u201closing\u201d these key Parliamentary functions has exacerbated the lack of \u201cchecks and balances\u201d<\/p>\n The post The Malady of Ignorance? Indonesian Parliament During the COVID-19 Pandemic<\/a> appeared first on New Mandala<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3824,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[207,2179,2181],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3824"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108460,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108459\/revisions\/108460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Three courses of action<\/strong><\/h4>\n