Participatory Recess: Women Participation in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara

Parliament members in House of Representative (DPR) or Regional Representative Assembly (DPRD) have the function for carrying out the constituents’ needs and voices. Three times in a year, the parliament members are visiting their constituent for knowing directly the problems faced by them, and also ensuring the impact of government programs. This visitation known as “Recess”.

Recess is important to parliament members for visiting their constituents in electoral district, especially for: (1) deliver and report what they had done as a member of parliament; (2) monitor/ supervise the realisation of development in each electoral district; (3) a closer look at the problems in the electoral district; and (4) receive or gather the constituents’ aspiration in the electoral district.

For constituent, recess is one of effective ways for proposing priority-needs based program/ activity to the parliament members. And it can be quickly responded and executed. Therefore, poor women can possibly access the opportunity to deliver their voices through the recess activities.

Women’s Participation

Looking at the conventional recess models that consumed a large budget, ideally the parliament members should get various ideas and proposals from the constituent. However, in fact most of the proposal and complaints submitted by the constituent only related to infrastructure problems. The poor and women that are supposed to propose a direct aid or basic needs, are not always included in the proposal brought by parliament member. This is because most of the participants who attended the recess are dominated by men, local government, and the elite.

Therefore, participatory recess present in regards to the public’s expectations in order to be an effective tool for legislators to listen the aspirations and will of the constituents. Most of the time, recess is only represented by male constituents. However, with participatory recess method and promotion to the women representation, particularly poor women, the women’s voices can be listened directly by the parliament members. In addition to maintain the women representation, participatory recess also uses more participatory methods. The constituent proposals are being discussed in discussion groups and presented to the legislators. These proposals become document for recess participants and will be carried by legislators.

This pattern and method need to be developed so that the aspirations fought by legislators are truly born from the everyday problems faced by constituent in general, women, poor people and marginalized groups. Thus, recess is not only convey the needs and interests of constituent to the parliament member, but also can be optimized for advocating the interests of their constituents and wider public.

Participatory Recess in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara

MAMPU – BaKTI Sub-office in West Nusa Tenggara has been developing the participatory recess method in East Lombok Regency. This method appreciated by the Chairman of East Lombok Regional representative assembly, H. Khaerul Rizal. He was practiced and conducted Participatory Recess in Pondok Pesantren Darul Shafi’ites Muhsin Nahdlatul Wathan and Nahdlatul Wathan Islamic Elementary School (MI NW) Dasan Lekong.

Rizal said, “Participatory recess gives wide space for women”.

The Deputy Chairman of the Parliament, Fadil Na’im, also conducted participatory recess in the Peneda Gandor village and Labuhan Haji Village, Labuhan Haji District. While Baiq Nurhasanah, a woman parliament member, held the recess in her house in Sukamulia Village, Suralaga District.

With 100% attendance level and 85% participation rate, the recess process can produce valid aspiration document. The document divides into several priority sectors, such as: Health, Social Culture, Education, Agriculture, Infrastructure, and Social Protection Program.

Recess as Sources of Legitimacy

Recess is legislators’ obligation and it is hold regularly during the assembly. The 50 legislators of East Lombok parliament will come directly to the public.

During recess period, there will be three times meeting multiplied to 6 smaller meetings, equal to 18 meetings in total. Usually, the recess is attended by 90 participants. Thus annually, there is approximately 1,620 participants attend the recess and meet each of parliament member. In total there is 81,000 recess participants for all 50 parliament members.

With this large number of participant, recess becomes the source of legitimacy for the budgeting, legislation, and oversight function owned by parliament members. This can be used as comparison instrument for the development planning process collected through Multi-Stakeholder Consultation Forum for Development Planning (musrenbang) in village, district, or county/ city level, to the formulation of General Policy of Local Government Budget and Provisional Budget Ceiling Priority (KUA PPAS) proposed by the executive. If the recess is ideally conducted, then the recess proposal can be matched with the proposed planning forums.

Urgency of Participatory Recess

Looking at the current recess implementation pattern, Participatory recess can provides adventages and benefits for the legislators. For the example, it can facilitates the legislators on identifying constituents’ problems and developing aspirations, and able to establish intensive communication among constituents with parliament members by using participatory pattern.

Through Participatory recess, it is also expected to facilitate the legislators in taking care of their campaign team network and party who already supported them. The most important thing is through parliament members, it is likely can increased advocay budget allocation beyond the amount of the ceiling aspirations agreement. Therefore, advocation of the constituents’ interests can be more optimal. In the end, participatory recess can produces factual document of constituent aspirations (data per day), legitimate (81,000 participants per year), and measurable.

Participatory recess can facilitates parliament performance and achievement. Moreover, the executives can take advantage of this method. The local government can obtain primary data directly from the public, especially related to the people aspirations that have been collected through Participatory recess. It can facilitates the programs and activities’ synchronization that are generated through a political participatory-technocratic approach in parliament. Therefore, the mutual support function between the aspiration documents and government planning can create more valid planning with greater community participation.

As for the constituents, they can monitor their aspiration progress through their representatives. They can directly assess their representatives who is truly advocate for their interests, and experience the implementation of development policies which come from the people’s will.

Reported by: Nur Janah and M. Ghufran H. Kordi K.