Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – The government must improve the qualitative aspects, not quantitative aspects, of political parties through the package of political bills currently under deliberation at the House of Representatives, political observers said Tuesday.
"The government is obsessed with having only a few political parties reaching stability. Limiting the electoral threshold percentage for parties is not the answer for a better democracy," political observer Hadar N. Gumay said Tuesday at a seminar on political bills.
"The government views these political parties as having many problems, so they want to regulate them better."
The four bills in the package concern political parties, legislative and presidential elections and the composition of legislative bodies.
Hadar, executive director of the Center for Electoral Reform, said that admirable parties would receive votes from the public on their own merit and would not require an attempt to limit competition.
Qualitative improvements for parties, he said, would include more stringent standards for the recruitment of party executives, such as by setting minimum education requirements.
"Another example is to create (higher requirements) for parties' treasurers or financial managers to ensure they are capable of managing a... budget to run the party," he said, adding that political parties are the pillars of democracy.
Several parties have demanded that the government lower the electoral threshold from 3 percent to 2 percent in the new legislative election bill to accommodate smaller parties in the upcoming election.
People's Voter Education Network national coordinator Jeirry Sumampow said the political climate in Indonesia would improve if the electoral threshold was scrapped in the bills. "Naturally, parties who serve their communities better will get more votes and thus are able to exist," he said.
The establishment of new political parties, Jeirry said, should be easy and does not require strict regulation. "What the government should regulate further is the process involving the election, in which it directs parties to be more serious."
The government, he said, must concentrate on furthering the public's political education on day-to-day issues the country faces. Under article 47 of the bill on political parties, sanctions are not given to parties for failing to provide a political-based education to communities, Jeirry said.
Zainal Arifin, a member of the special committee deliberating the political bills at the House, said "uniformity" among parties would resemble the political condition during the New Order era.
"Moreover, changing the electoral threshold would not be effective if parties are able to re-establish themselves easily with new names," said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle representative.
The political bills are scheduled to be endorsed by the House in November.