Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Major and minor parties are at loggerheads over whether an electoral threshold should be set for parties running in the legislative and presidential races in 2009.
Golkar Party legislator Ferry Mursyidan Baldan and his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) counterpart Tjahyo Kumolo said the electoral threshold is needed to prevent elections from becoming overly fragmented by the growing number of political parties. The Golkar and PDI-P are the nation's two largest parties.
"The more parties participating in elections, the more democratic the country will be, but it will be ineffective and inefficient. It's better for minority parties to form a coalition with other parties if they want to take part in elections," Ferry said in a discussion.
The forum was organized Thursday by the Akbar Tanjung Institute to provide suggestions to the House of Representatives as it reviews the general elections law.
Tjahyo proposed that the revised law set the electoral threshold at at least 15 percent to allow only major parties to contest elections. He also supported including a parliamentary threshold in the new election law to reduce the number of factions in the House of Representatives and make the House more efficient.
"It has been found ineffective and impractical for a small party winning only two to 10 seats at the House to be allowed to form its own faction," he added.
Ryaas Rasyid of the Justice and Democratic Party (PDK), which won only two seats in the House in the 2004 elections, opposed the threshold, saying it would hamper the development of democracy.
"The state was established by our founding fathers from different elements and groups and they never looked down at minority groups. All elements took an active part in building the nation, so why should we start giving minority groups different treatment? Let the people decide the fate of the minority parties through the elections," he said, citing as an example the electoral systems in the United States and India.
Lili Romly, a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, supported the imposition of an electoral threshold to select election contenders naturally.
"We still have one more election in 2009 to let the nation have strong and significant parties in the 2014 elections," he said, adding that the new election law should allow the establishment of local parties to fight for the political interests of local communities.
Similarly, Sukardi Rinakit, executive director of the Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicate, a national pollster, said an electoral threshold would limit the number of election contestants "naturally".
The current threshold of 3 percent is too low and needs to be increased to 5 to 7 percent, he was quoted by Antara as saying Friday. Sukardi said a proposed increase of the threshold to 10 percent or above would be "too difficult" for most parties.
Lili also said it was time for the nation to start implementing the pure district system in the 2009 legislative elections. This would allow legislators to fight for their constituents' interests and to help improve the House's performance, he argued.
Center for Electoral Reform executive director Hadar Gumay said the House and the government should draft a law to make presidential, legislative and local elections efficient and practical. "The House will need only a single special committee to prepare the law," he said.