Anita Rachman& Arientha Primanita, Jakarta – A lawmaker from the main opposition party has made the radical suggestion of having two legislative thresholds, just the latest twist in the debate over streamlining the national legislature.

Arif Wibowo, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said over the weekend that different thresholds should be applied for individual parties and coalitions of parties – 5 percent for the former and 7.5 percent for the latter.

The threshold, currently at 2.5 percent, is the share of votes a party must win in the general elections to get into the House of Representatives. The four biggest parties in the House have proposed doubling it, which is seen by smaller parties as an attempt to remove them from the political stage.

Other lawmakers, however, were quick to criticize Arif's suggestion. "It's not fair," said Mahfud Siddiq, the deputy secretary general of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

"The current threshold is already a great challenge for smaller parties and has pushed them into considering forming coalitions. I believe the threshold should be the same for both parties and coalitions."

The PKS is one of the four parties in the House calling for a doubling of the threshold.

Marwan Ja'far, a veteran lawmakers from the National Awakening Party (PKB), said there should only be one threshold, and no coalitions. "Ideally, the threshold should be increased to 3 percent, 3.5 percent or 5 percent," he said.

Jerry Sumampouw, from the Independent Committee for Election Monitoring (KIPP), said the idea of a dual threshold was just another way to keep smaller parties out of the House.

He also said the idea was confusing and could lead to disputes in the final determination of House seats. "It's too complicated for voters, so political parties must think of an alternative," Jerry said.

However, Bima Arya Sugiarto, from the National Mandate Party (PAN), which first proposed the idea of coalitions, said he thought having different thresholds was a good idea. "It's a really good idea," he said. "Now we just need to discuss the procedures for forming coalitions."

Arif defended his proposal, saying it was "an effort to accommodate smaller parties worried about getting into the House."

He added that future coalitions should be composed of parties holding similar ideals. "And once they've merged, they should be one new party," he said. "A coalition shouldn't be an umbrella group for several discrete factions. It's not a complicated concept."