Departing from a contentious Constitutional Court ruling on the allocation of legislative seats, the General Elections Commission (KPU) has suggested political parties award one of three seats won in an electoral district to a female candidate. The KPU has even suggested asking the President for support through a governmental decree to ensure the measure is enacted. The Jakarta Post's Adianto P. Simamora spoke with the Executive Director of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) Hadar N. Gumay Yabout this issue. Below is an excerpt.

Q: What does the Constitutional Court ruling mean for democracy?

A: Under this ruling, legislative seats are now awarded to the candidates who win the most votes. Now, our electoral system resembles that in traditionally democratic countries. Under this revised system, the authority of political parties is limited to selecting and nominating candidates to compete in the legislative elections. They have no right to handpick its representatives at the legislative bodies.

The voters now hold the power and sway to determine their representatives, and political parties must listen to their people and choose the appropriate candidates.

What consequences will this ruling have on political parties?

It will overturn the predictions and expectations made by the parties before the court ruling was handed down. Many parties have maintained a list system to allow them to appoint loyalists as their representatives in parliament, a practice very susceptible to vote buying and nepotistic practices.

We have also seen that many parties are not serious about increasing the political representation of women at the House. While many parties claim they have complied with the elections law and granted 30 percent of candidacy slots to women, this is in fact very misleading.

A study by Cetro found only two parties, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Democratic Party, actually implemented the ruling at the electoral district level.

Now that the court has confirmed the open list system, it is time for the parties to prove their commitment to democratic elections and take action to promote greater women's representation at the House.

Do you think the KPU plan to help female candidates win more seats is in line with earlier moves to promote women in politics?

I respect the KPU proposal for female candidates to have a greater number of seats, because it is important to have more women in the House and political arena in general.

But in reality, the idea is problematic and has little chance of getting off the ground because it is unlikely any political party will win three seats in any one electoral district.

In the 2004 elections, for example, only 31 out of 69 electoral districts saw a political party win three seats. Back then, the majority of parties only managed to secure one or two seats in an electoral district.

We need to remind the KPU about why the Constitutional Court ruling is an effective regulation. The polls body should prevent making a measure which is vulnerable to conflict and lawsuits.

It should also avoid issuing a regulation which is beyond its authority and in violation of a higher law.

There is no merit in introducing a plan simply to impress the public when it will surely turn out to be ineffective in the fight for promoting women's rights in politics.

The Constitutional Court ruling already provides equal room for male and female candidates to win in the elections. If the KPU wants to take specific action and push this measure through in the fight for female representation, it must propose an amendment to the law.

I would prefer if the KPU sought a government regulation in-lieu-of-law (Perpu). However, it must be careful because a judicial review filed against the Perpu is also widely open to exploitation.

So, what is the best way out to promote women's representation in politics?

That depends on the political party in question. The parties could produce an internal regulation to allocate a certain percent of legislative seats to women.

If a party wins 100 legislative seats, for example, and promises to set aside 20 percent for female candidates but can't garner the votes for their female candidate, the party could apply an article in the election law that allows elected candidates to withdraw from the legislative body and give the seats female candidates.

It is a legal move and would improve the public image of parties overall.