The Indonesian Parliament after Two Elections: What has Really Changed? Stephen Sherlock Foreword This paper follows from a study on the structure and operation of the Indonesian parliament (Dewan Perwakilan Raykat (DPR)) commissioned by the Centre for Democratic Institutions (CDI) and published in 2003. 1 The 2003 paper described the role, composition and structure of the DPR and made an assessment of its effectiveness as an institution in the context of the rapidly changing political scene in Indonesia after the fall of the Suharto regime. The paper concluded that great changes had occurred in Indonesian politics and that the DPR was part of those changes and was being forced to accommodate to continuing change. But it was also argued that the DPR was heavily marked by the traditions, procedures and practices of authoritarianism and that popular opinions about the Members of the DPR were dominated by perceptions of corruption, inefficiency and self-seeking behaviour. The first CDI study should be read in conjunction with this paper. In October 2004, the second democratically elected DPR was sworn into office. But unlike the chamber elected in 1999, this DPR did not then meet as the Majelis Permusyawarahan Rakyat (MPR) and choose the President. Constitutional changes meant that the President had been chosen by the electorate in a direct popular election. The President was no longer answerable to the DPR but to the electorate. This reform fundamentally altered the relationship between the DPR and the Presidency, turning Indonesia from something of a hybrid parliamentary-presidential system into a more straightforward presidential style of government with a clearer separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. CDI Policy Papers on Political Governance centre for democratic institutions 2007/1 The CDI Policy Paper series focuses on pressing issues of political governance in the Asia-Pacific region. The series publishes original papers commissioned by CDI, each of which deal with important issues for policymakers interested in issues of democracy, governance and political institutions. The papers feature new research and policy recommendations, and aim to forge research-to- policy links and provide new insights and analysis on subjects of concern to CDI. www.cdi.anu.edu.au 2007/1 1 Stephen Sherlock, Struggling to Change: The Indonesian Parliament in an Era of Reformasi, Centre for Democratic Institutions, Canberra, 2003.