Life as a Legislative Member : A Story of Gamari Sutrisno

        Friendly, that is our first impression when we met this man. His name is Mr. Gamari Sutrisno and he is a part of Komisi II in Indonesian House of Representatives. This 62 years old man belongs to Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS). One thing that makes us, Andira and Dika, interested in him is the fact that he comes from communication background, which is completely different from his current job in politics. On May 27^th, 2013, we had a chance to talk with him about his decision on working out of his comfort zone, his life as a legislative member, and also his experiences.

So, Mr. Gamari, we read that you actually come from communication background which is often associated with a light subject. Why you suddenly decided to move to political world? Because as we all know politic is a heavy subject.

Who says that I move?? Hahaha…. I actually did not move.

Well… I do come from communication background. When I graduated from formal school I continued my education in Information Academy (AKPEN). Basically this is similar with communication academy because we have several majors such as electronic media and printed media which are related with communication. After graduated, I went to Publication Faculty to pursue my bachelor degree, then to United States to get my magister and doctor degree.

In AKPEN, I started both of my education and working careers, which include working in Information Department until it being closed by Gus Dur (Indonesia Former President) in 2000s. After that, I worked in Menteri Koordinator Bidang Politik dan Keamanan (Menkopolkam) with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (Indonesia current president) as my mentor until finally, I proposed an early retirement.

After retired, I attended studies that conducted by state and private agencies and also became a lecturer in several universities. While attending these studies, I met many people, including the mentors who came from PKS. I attended these studies for about two years and after that, I was being offered to be legislative member from PKS.  I agreed on this since PKS has the same vision and mission like me, which is dakwah. Long story, I was elected to be the official legislative member for Daerah Pemilihan III, Central Java that includes cities like Blora, Pati, Rembang, and Grobogan.

Does this means that when you first being offered the job as a legislative member, you already prepared to fulfill that, Mr. Gamari?

Yes, I do because if I did not prepare, how come I become a legislative member until now? Hahahahaha. And prepared means ready in terms of moral and material because I have to prepare in both aspects.

Are there any programs that should be done by Komisi II?

Of course, Komisi II has the same main jobs like other commission in House of Representatives. The first job is to make legislation that related with our partners, such as Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of the State Secretariat, Government Administration Agency, and 6 others agencies. The second job is to supervise the government in doing their regulations to know if they keep going in the right track. We also, supervise the budget that being used by them. The last main job is to discuss the budget that being proposed from the government to House of Representatives. This is what often being misunderstood by public. They think that House of Representatives are the one who hold the budget and we are the one who corrupted. But the truth is the budget is not on us. Our budget is only involved in giving the legislative members’ salary. If there is a corruption caused by legislative member, then it might be because they have connection with private agency. And if we find any violation acts, we will call the Minister or the party that involved in this case in order reminding them about their actual job.

Beside those main jobs, we also listen to people aspirations. There are 2 ways to get their aspirations, which are inviting them to meet us and visiting them, face-to-face to their location (reses). Every year we do 4 reses and for this year, I already done 1 reses.

Then what kind of problems that you found in there?

There many problems like damage infrastructures, agriculture, education and health. This education, agriculture, and health problems apparently appear in many other locations and it makes this also become the national problem, not only a local problem.

Does government give their effort in order to reduce this problem?

Yes of course they do, but the main thing is how much is the effort, that is what we (House of Representatives) are paying attention to.

As we know that PKS is being issued with corruption. Do you have any comments relating to that case? What do you think about it and does it affect you in some way?

I’d rather not say about that matter. But, I need to explain that personal case has to be separated from party related cases. Right now, it is a personal case. The truth is, PKS as an institution/party does not have any incidents because the party does not contribute to any corruption. Only being implied so by the media and some other groups because it is the president who is in this issue that is why people think that it is identical with PKS itself. So far, PKS itself is pretty solid, meaning that we could tell the differences between personal matters over party issues. The hard thing that we need to clarify is public opinion and it is not an easy thing.

When public opinion is constructed, we have to be able to shape another opinion as a diversion. If you keep quiet, it stands for agreement, but if you speak up, it will be considered as a denial. But in every action there is a risk. That is why, if you pay much attention to media, PKS stands against this issue. If someone were making a personal opinion over something, it has to be questioned. One opinion should meet with another. If we stay quiet over this, people would think that our personal issues are party issues.

What are the ups and downs in being a legislative member? Is it hard?

I feel that being a legislative member is citizen’s trust. It is an honor, not pride. I am happy that I am able to live the task from people. For me, to meet citizens is fun. I can talk with labor workers, farmers to fishermen.  Although the impression of being a member is not always positive, I believe that each member does not act similarly. As long as I do not violate or betray the citizen’s trust, I am enjoying this job.

                That is the end of our fun and warm conversation with Mr. Gamari Sutrisno. To be honest, he changes our perception about House of Representatives and government. We also learned many values from him like how communication is important in our life just like how pan pizza is important in holding the pieces of pizza. It was such an honor for us to meet and talk with him personally. At the end, we feel grateful for that.

                                                                                                                                Andira & Dika,

Communication Binus International 2015