DPR More Open, Fulfilling Promises as the House of the People

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The DPR promises to be more open in receiving the aspirations of the community, especially the younger generation who need to be embraced for the future. The DPR's Public Aspiration Body that has been established needs a technological touch to be closer to the public. Complaints that come in are also expected to be accommodated and included in the legislative process.

Deputy Speaker of the MPR, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, in the "DPR Connect" event titled "DPR and the Young Generation: Collaboration for Change," held in the Abdul Muis Room, Parliament Complex, Jakarta, on Wednesday (12/2/2025), stated that as representatives of the people, the DPR must be able to oversee and fight for the aspirations of the people. It is not enough to merely listen to the people's aspirations, but to ensure those aspirations are included in the legislative process, programs, and public policies.

"That's how we thank the people as members of parliament. People say the voice of the DPR is the voice of the people, because it's true, we are here to represent the people. So, satisfied or not, enough or not enough, what we are fighting for, members of parliament must be at the forefront to listen and prosper the people," said the man who is familiarly called Ibas.

BAM (Community Aspiration Agency) will continue to strive to absorb community aspirations in a more structured manner, which has so far only been carried out by 580 DPR members individually.

The event was attended by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal and Secretary General of the House of Representatives Indra Iskandar. The event was also followed by a panel discussion that presented a number of speakers, namely the Chairperson of the House of Representatives' Community Aspiration Agency (BAM) Netty Prasetiyani Heryawan and a Member of the House of Representatives from the Democratic Party Faction who is also the Chairperson of the House of Representatives' Household Affairs Agency (BURT) Rizki Aulia Rahman Natakusumah.

Next, Director of Blue Ocean Strategy Fellowship Indra Dwi Prasetyo, and Chief Editor of Kompas Daily Sutta Dharmasaputra. The majority of discussion participants came from young people, both high school students in Jakarta, and students from various universities.

Ibas continued that technological developments are moving very quickly. The challenges of the times are increasingly difficult. For this reason, collaboration between all parties is needed, including the DPR and the community. The DPR and political parties cannot work alone. Critical ideas and mature thoughts from the community, especially the younger generation, are very much needed.

In addition to the “DPR Connect” activity, Ibas said that currently the DPR already has a new council tool that aims to further facilitate the absorption of public aspirations, namely BAM. BAM will continue to strive to absorb public aspirations in a more structured manner, which has so far only been done by 580 DPR members individually.

Ibas then quoted his father, who was also the 6th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Yudhoyono once said that criticism is like medicine. When the medicine is right, according to the type of disease, and the dosage is right, it will make you healthy. On the other hand, any decision and policy will never satisfy all parties. "However, if the intention, goal, and concept are good, just do it," said Ibas.

Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal agrees with Ibas. According to him, the community, including the younger generation, must be close to the legislative institution. Because, all decisions taken in the DPR will be felt directly by the public so that it requires public participation.

Therefore, Cucun sees the need for various ways to bring the DPR closer to the younger generation. Moreover, this generation will become the leaders and movers of the nation in the future. In fact, Cucun continued, this generation will contribute politically in the next few years.

"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)," said Cucun.

According to Cucun, the existence of BAM can also be one of the channels that can channel aspirations. He hopes that the public, especially the younger generation, can take advantage of it in addition to access through people's representatives during recess.

Meanwhile, Indra Iskandar stated that the young generation is the pillar of the nation's future so their involvement in public policy is absolutely necessary. Therefore, the DPR cannot work alone and his party ensures that the hopes of the young generation are truly channeled in decision-making in Parliament.

One of the efforts made, Indra said, was to establish communication between students and pupils with the Campus Parliament and Youth Parliament since 2008. "This is a mandate taken by the DPR when it committed to working with parliaments around the world," he said.

Collaboration with the younger generation is to prove that politics is a shared responsibility, so it requires competence, capability, and integrity. "The more good people who enter the DPR, the faster Indonesia will prosper," said Indra Iskandar.

With that dream, Indra Iskandar said, his party has prepared a number of strategic steps to strengthen communication with the younger generation, starting from digital platforms to provide broad access to the public to discussions with youth and student communities.

"This initiative aims to directly absorb their aspirations regarding various national issues and increase understanding of the role and function of the DPR in the democratic system," said Indra Iskandar.

Indra Dwi Prasetyo believes that progressive ideas related to public aspiration channels need to be followed by the use of digital technology. In fact, there is an option to create a petition so that the public who feel the same problems and concerns collect votes and can be responded to by the DPR.

"With digitalization with this kind of concept, friends can then speak collectively, and I think there are checks and balances. Moreover, there are four major issues in the youth environment that need to be discussed together," said Indra Dwi.

The issues include sustainable lifestyle, employment, digital transformation, and demographic bonus. According to Indra Dwi Prasetyo, the involvement of young people is expected to be greater in discussing these issues so that they can see their perspective when viewing existing phenomena.

"Because they are still young, it is natural that their perspective is genuine, unbiased, because they certainly have not been involved in politics. We all hope that there is a platform that can accommodate the aspirations of these young friends," said Indra Dwi.

Meanwhile, Netty Prasetiyani Heryawan revealed that the reason for forming BAM was so that the public could be more free to express their aspirations, so that they would not only be limited to the existing council apparatus, Commission I to Commission XIII now.

"So, there are no obstacles for the public to convey their aspirations to the DPR without any obstacles whatsoever. Don't be afraid to convey your aspirations," said Netty.

Netty said, since it was formed in October 2024, many complaints have been received through the DPR Public Complaints Bureau. BAM has also received many invitations to audiences from various community groups. Not only receiving complaints, BAM also proactively examines complaints that appear on social media and then verifies them with direct field visits.

Netty said that the types of complaints that come into BAM are not only sectoral matters like complaints that come into DPR commissions. Once a complaint comes into BAM, the matter is already cross-commission and sectoral. "So we are challenged to learn quickly and make a grading whether this aspiration should be prioritized and then the recommendations must be quickly followed up by the leadership," said Netty.

However, she reminded the public that every complaint submitted needs to be supported by strong data. That way, the complaint can be directly followed up by BAM members from the relevant commission. "This is also an opportunity to educate the public, how to convey good aspirations, not just 'asbun' (just making noise), but there is data, where the incident happened, what it means. This is certainly an educational process in itself when they convey their aspirations to BAM," said Netty.

Meanwhile, Rizki Aulia Rahman Natakusumah admitted that in an effort to absorb the aspirations of the people in the DPR, all must be communicated well between all factions in the party. This is because every decision made in the DPR is a collective collegial decision. However, he believes that every decision must also be based on mature considerations, including input from the community.