Page 10 - BUKU STRENGTHENING THE INDONESIAN PARLIAMENTARY DIPLOMACY FADLI ZON

House is entrusted with three main functions, namely legislative, budgeting, and also oversight. In
its development, the Indonesian House’s functions and roles are further solidified through Article
69 of Law No. 17/2014, later known as the MD3 Law (the Law on the House of Representatives/
DPR, People’s Consultative Assembly/MPR, Regional Representatives Council/DPD, and Regional
Legislative Assembly/DPRD). Based on the MD3 Law, the Indonesian House also plays both the
representative role, as well as the empowering role to the implementation of foreign policy. This
is what then institutionalized with the function of parliamentary diplomacy.

The Indonesian House diplomatic role is specifically played by a parliamentary organ called
the Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation (BKSAP). Based on the Indonesian House’s
Regulation No. 1/2014, BKSAP has the main role in developing, fostering, and promoting friendly
relations and cooperation with parliaments of friendly countries, both at bilateral and multilateral
levels.

Based on its organizational framework, the involvement of the Indonesian House on the foreign
policy agenda rests at two levels. The first is institutional level, and the second is diplomatic
level. The House plays institutional role through the ratification of international treaties or
conventions, while the role of oversight is played over the executive’s foreign policy agenda,
and the budgeting role in supporting foreign policy agenda. Meanwhile, the parliamentary
involvement in diplomatic level is carried out through bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.
multilateral parliamentary diplomacy is implemented by taking an active role in international
forums or organizations, such as the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Parliamentary
Union of the OICE Member States (PUIC), the Parliamentary for Global Action (PGA), the Global
Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC), the Women Parliaments (WP),
the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP),
Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), and Forum for
East Asia Latin America Cooperations (AEYPM).

As a political instrument of foreign policy, parliamentary diplomacy has an intrinsic privilege,
e.g., the characteristic of its diplomacy. Although both are state actors, parliament and executive
have slightly different characteristics of diplomacy. The style of parliamentary diplomacy
is relatively more adjustable and flexible. It can be carried out either formally or informally.
Therefore, parliamentary diplomacy often becomes an alternative channel of communication
among countries, especially when tension arises at the executive level.

With that characteristic, parliament has more room for diplomatic maneuver. On the issue of
humanity in Rohingya, for example, the stance of the government in ASEAN to criticize and urge
Myanmar is very limited by the non-interference principle. However, the Indonesian House is able
to do that. In the 39th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) forum in 2018, for example,
the Indonesian House succeeded in urging the Rohingya issue be included in the deliberation in
AIPA, even though, at first, it was strongly opposed by Myanmar and several other countries.

Selected Speeches of the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia I ix