Lucius Karus: Members Of The Indonesian House Of Representatives Have Serious Weaknesses On Communication

Eddy Wijaya and Lucius Karus. (Doc Eddy Wijaya)

JAKARTA - Researcher of the Indonesian Parliamentary Concerned Community Forum (FORMAPPI), Lucius Karus highlighted the poor public communication of members of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR). According to him, a number of legislators were not good in issuing statements that sparked public anger.

"For example, Uya Kuya said we, right, ordinary artists are shaking. Eko Patrio is the same way. If Nafa Urbach responds to the 50 million rupiah housing allowance," said Lucius while talking to Eddy Wijaya on the EdShare On podcast which aired on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.

According to Lucius, the poor communication between legislators relates to their weak responsibility for the public interest. They are only busy prioritizing their personal and group interests. I see the communication of DPR members getting worse in recent periods. When then the DPR prioritizes work in its coalition group rather than showing itself as a representative of the people, the communication becomes properly disturbed," he said.

Members of the Indonesian House of Representatives have recently been in the spotlight due to their increased allowances and salaries with fantastic value in the midst of difficult community conditions. For example, home allowances that reach Rp. 50 million per month. This condition is exacerbated by the attitude of DPR members who are considered anti-criticism. As a result, demonstrations occurred everywhere so that they urged them to correct their income. A number of DPR members were also disabled due to their statements that sparked public anger among the Deputy Chairman of Commission III of the DPR RI Ahmad Sahroni, Surya Uya Uya, Nafa Urbach, Eko Patrio, and Adies Kadir.

Lucius said DPR members must be careful in expressing opinions related to policies and their work results in public. Because the authority of DPR members is regulated by Law (UU) Number 13 of 2019 concerning MD3 (MPR, DPR, DPD and DPRD) and DPR RI Regulation Number 1 of 2025 concerning Order. In terms of system, the mechanism for conveying opinion and DPR policies should be through the leadership. But now it's not good because all members of the DPR are allowed to talk. There appear people like Sahroni whose words actually hurt the people," he said.

The poor communication system in the DPR, Lucius explained, could not be separated from the failure of the leaders of the DPR who were unable to implement the existing mechanism. They actually regulate their members in communicating so as not to become a source of noise. If there is a commotion in the public regarding the statement of members of the DPR, there must be a system that does not work. The leadership failed to convey information related to what happened in the DPR," said the graduate of the Driyarkara Jakarta Philosophy College.

Lucius also regretted the attitude of DPR members who actually disappeared when the public used their rights to express their aspirations. Like during the August 25 demonstration, legislators chose to Work From Home (WFA) instead. I think this is part of a communication failure too, the DPR stutters to respond to the demands of the people who come directly in such a large number. They choose to avoid it. I think that's part of the way the DPR communicates too, they are used to ignoring the people in a series of decision-making processes," he said.

The DPR RI Website Is The Most Informative Institutional Website

ForMAPPI researcher Lucius Karus stated that the construction of the DPR RI website and social media is an urgent need in the midst of the current abundance of information. According to him, the digital information of the DPR RI currently running only spends a large budget but does not provide relevant information.

"The DPR has a large budget for information technology, to build a website. How many times do we criticize the website budget (DPR RI), it is very high, very large, even though the website is mediocre, it doesn't even convey fresh information," Lucius told Eddy Wijaya.

The man who was born in West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, March 15, 1974 explained that the failure to build a website indicated that the Indonesian House of Representatives was unable to adapt to technological developments, especially digital information. They always say that the DPR is modern, the DPR relies on information technology to be able to communicate with the public. Just look at the DPR website, maybe it's the website of the most informative institution," said Lucius.

Lucius added that the DPR's website and social media were previously rarely accessed by the public, but their visits began to increase during a massive demonstration at the end of last August. Unfortunately, they did not get enough information because the contents of the website were incomplete. I see the development of people who watch the social media of the DPR, Twitter, Instagram, usually dozens of people who comment or like it but increase sharply," he said.

Therefore, Lucius hopes that young people who are literate about the development of information technology can be involved in advancing the DPR RI website. "Many young people who have this concern must be able to prepare themselves to replace or continue their work (Members of the DPR RI) which we consider to be failing at this time," he said.

Who Is Eddy Wijaya Really, Here's The Profile

The figure of Eddy Wijaya is a podcaster who was born on August 17, 1972. Through the @EdShareOn YouTube account, Eddy interviewed many national figures ranging from state officials, legal experts, political experts, national politicians, to Indonesian celebrities. The man with the characteristics of the right cheek dimple is also a nationalist who is a struggling activist for discriminated and social observers by helping the community through the Wijaya Peduli Bangsa foundation.

He is also active in the field of sports by serving as the Daily Chair of the All-Indonesian Equestrian Sports Association (Pordasi) Pacu and has also served as Deputy Chairperson of the All-Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) East Jakarta. Eddy also serves as the Advisory Board of the Social Association of Marga Tionghoa Indonesia, the 2022-2026 term of service. His ideas were formed because of his hard work to be independent from the age of 13 years until his success as he is now. For Eddy, the world of work is not as smooth as imagined, failure and rejection are common. This is what makes him hold fast to the tagline Success is only a matter of time. (ADV)