VZCZCXRO3510
OO RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHJA #2032 3451004
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 111004Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4113
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS JAKARTA 002032 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP 
NSC FOR D. WALTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM ID
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENTARY REFORM -- STRENGTHENING THE REGIONAL 
VOICE 
 
REF: JAKARTA 1866 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Indonesia's Regional Representatives 
Assembly (DPD), the country's legislative upper chamber or 
"Senate," is taking steps to bolster its credibility and 
power.  The DPD, which was established in 2004, was designed 
to give Indonesia's diverse regions a more direct voice at 
the national level.  It has fallen short of that goal because 
it lacks the authority to pass laws, among other items.  It 
continues to press for a stronger voice for the regions as 
they gain influence under Indonesia's ongoing 
decentralization of powers program.  USAID is currently 
providing support to the DPD as part of its program on 
improving regional governance.  END SUMMARY. 
 
INDONESIA'S "SENATE" STRUGGLING TO FORGE IDENTITY 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Indonesia created the Assembly of Regional 
Representatives (DPD) in 2004 as an 'upper house' which would 
function to bring the concerns of Indonesia's diverse regions 
to the national level.  Like the U.S. Senate, it is 
representative but not proportional, and consists of four 
members from each of Indonesia's 33 provinces.  DPD members 
consider themselves the purest representation of the people's 
interests because they are elected directly rather than as 
part of a party ticket.  However, the DPD has little 
legislative power.  Although it drafts and consults on 
legislation, only the House of Representatives (DPR) may pass 
legislation. 
 
TRYING TO EXPAND POWERS 
 
¶4.  (SBU) DPD members have recently pressed to expand their 
powers.  The DPD sued in the country's Constitutional Court 
for its members to be allowed to run for speaker of the 
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).  (Note:  In Indonesia's 
somewhat complex legislative system, the MPR consists of both 
the DPD and DPR and has its own, largely symbolic, 
leadership.)  This backfired, because although the Court 
ruled that DPD members could be considered for Speaker, it 
also overturned legislation stipulating that two DPD members 
be assured MPR Deputy Speaker roles.  As a result, only one 
DPD member became Deputy Speaker this session, while the 
coveted Speaker role went to a DPR member. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The DPD has also pushed for a new constitutional 
amendment which would allow it to pass legislation (such acts 
would have to be reconciled on an equal basis with the DPR). 
Political party elites from every party, who are the backbone 
of Indonesia's political establishment, are unlikely to 
support this proposal since they would gain little from a 
stronger and apolitical DPD.  President Yudhoyono also seems 
unlikely to concede more legislative power to the DPD, as he 
has dismissed calls for constitutional revision in several 
recent public speeches. 
 
USG ENGAGEMENT 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The DPD has also been lobbying internationally to 
augment its powers.  In early December, Deputy Speaker Laode 
Ida invited the diplomatic community to a forum to discuss 
how the DPD could effectively engage internationally and make 
the DPD more useful as a legislative body during Indonesia's 
ongoing era of decentralization.  The diplomats agreed to 
cooperate more closely with the DPD on ways to enhance the 
effectiveness of the body. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) While it is unclear how the DPD's role in 
Indonesia's legislature will evolve during its second term, 
more USG engagement with the DPD would bolster Indonesia's 
parliamentary reform efforts.  Because the majority of DPD 
members are apolitical, they are not constrained by party 
considerations.  Our cooperation with the DPD will give us 
more traction on regional policy issues such as resource 
management, anti-corruption and regional investment.  USAID 
is currently providing limited support to the DPD as part of 
its program on improving regional governance. 
 
HUME