So that the DPR can delve deeper into the voice of the people

The House of Representatives has added a way to accommodate public aspirations by establishing the Public Aspirations Agency. However, this is not enough. A digital touch can expand the reach of the House of Representatives in absorbing public aspirations, especially among the younger generation. More importantly, it is the House of Representatives that truly wants to fight for the people's aspirations.

The People's Aspirations Body (BAM) of the DPR is indeed still very new. Formed in October 2024, this body is tasked with accommodating public aspirations in addition to the existing DPR apparatus.

"Now, in addition to Commissions I to XIII and the Legislative Body, there is also the Community Aspiration Body. So, there are no more obstacles for the public in conveying their aspirations without hindrance," said the Chairperson of BAM DPR Netty Prasetiyani during the DPR Connect event at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Wednesday (12/2/2025).

According to Netty, BAM DPR can serve as a conduit for the people's voice to the legislative realm. In fact, every Wednesday has been designated as a time for the public to directly submit complaints to BAM DPR, but this must still be preceded by a request for an audience, followed by validation and verification.

The working method of BAM DPR is also claimed to be more flexible. Netty stated that the incoming aspirations are diverse and will be channeled to the commissions according to their respective fields. This body is also not only filled by factions of certain parties, so the aspirations that can be handled become broader.

"Although this BAM is not a representation of all the commissions in the DPR, at least we can direct and confirm. So, if you want to speak but are confused about which commission is appropriate, now you don't have to think. Just go to BAM first," he explained.

With this flexibility, Netty hopes that the DPR BAM will make this country's legislative institution closer to the people. Moreover, currently the trend of positive public image towards the DPR is creeping up and based on the results of the Kompas Research and Development survey at 67 percent as of January 2025.

"So if we have ever heard of the DPR as the house of the Indonesian people, then this house becomes even bigger with the presence of the Community Aspiration Body," said Netty.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives from the National Awakening Party Faction Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal stated that the existence of the DPR BAM is one of the channels that is expected to channel aspirations from the public to the legislative institution. He hopes that the public, especially the younger generation, can utilize it in addition to access through people's representatives during recess.

The existence of various channels of aspirations is needed so that the people's voices are heard more loudly in the DPR. Cucun stated that the community, including the younger generation, must be close to the DPR because all decisions taken in the legislative institution require public participation.

Moreover, this generation will be the leaders and movers of the nation in the future. In fact, Cucun continued, this generation will contribute politically in the years to come.

"Now these young people are still young, but they will replace me in the future. The young people who will lead this Republic, who fill this building (Parliament). With DPR Connect, there is an important collaboration to realize a DPR that is close to the people," he said when opening the DPR Connect event.

Digital touch

However, it turns out that is not enough. The delivery of aspirations is also expected to be done by utilizing information technology and social media. According to the Director of Blue Ocean Strategy Fellowship Indra Dwi Prasetyo, the younger generation tends to like interacting in cyberspace.

"This kind of idea (BAM DPR) is progressive, but it needs to be digitized. These young friends enjoy social media while lying down. If they want to come, seeing the police in front (security), friends have already retreated first, so they are jiper (scared)," he said with a laugh.

According to Indra, the existing digital touch is not only made to channel complaints, but can also be used to create public petitions, so that the urgency of the problem can be seen. This strategy, he continued, has been carried out by the British Parliament to respond to problems and complaints coming from its people.

On the petition.parliament.uk website, it is stated that petitions that get more than 10,000 signatures, then the government will respond. This petition will be open for six months, and the government's response can be read on the website.

For example, the highest petition is on Call a General Election or a request for a general election. As of Friday (2/14/2025) at 19.00 WIB, this petition has been filled by 3.04 million accounts.

In addition to signing, visitors to the UK Parliament website can also view parliamentary debates on the issue, government responses, research, and the distribution of regions where people who signed the petition came from.

"I think this is realistic because my friends are happy that the petition and the voices of young people are more noisy on social media. If for example digitalization with a concept like this, and then my friends can speak collectively, I think there are checks and balances," said Indra.

The existence of this digital platform, Indra continued, can also be a channel for the public to channel their opinions so they don't have to wait for it to go viral on social media. In fact, this can reduce public sentiment towards a faster response from the government and law enforcement if the problem goes viral, or is called no viral no justice.  

"We all agree that there should be no viral no justice. However, that is what actually happens. Maybe there needs to be a digital mechanism so that this counterproductive virality can be more structured," said Indra.

Amidst hopes that the DPR will be closer to the people through information technology, the public also hopes that this institution can truly accommodate public aspirations. This is because the results of the Kompas Research and Development show that public satisfaction with the DPR's performance is only 59.1 percent, and 3.8 percent are very satisfied.

On the other hand, as many as 28.8 percent of the public felt dissatisfied, 3.9 percent were very dissatisfied, and the remaining 4.4 percent chose not to know. This condition became increasingly shaky when a number of DPR policies triggered public reactions, such as the revision of the DPR's Rules of Procedure which allowed this legislative institution to evaluate a number of executive institution leaders that they had previously tested.

Kompas Research and Development also conducted a survey through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents on September 4-10, 2024 regarding public satisfaction with legislative institutions. Half of the respondents or 51 percent stated that the thing that needs to be a fundamental improvement for the DPR in the future is to listen more to the aspirations of the people.

Kompas Daily editor-in-chief Sutta Dharmasaputra, who also became a speaker at the DPR Connect, reminded the members of the DPR who serve as representatives of the people. He hopes that the power given is truly used to listen to the voice of the people without the embellishment of a particular party or group.

"With the existing platform, public participation is truly meaningful. They (the public) know that they are being cared for, answered, and how far the progress is. If that is done, I think the members of the DPR are the most loved people by 270 million Indonesians," said Sutta.