Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – The ideal proportion of votes a party must win to be able to put forward a presidential candidate would be around 20 percent, which would create a solid and effective government, experts say.
Political analyst J. Kristiadi of the Centre of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said a minimum threshold of 15 to 20 percent would be the most reasonable.
"A higher percentage is needed for an effective government, but it shouldn't be 30 percent. That would close the door for smaller or medium parties which may have better presidential candidates than those proposed by bigger parties," he said Sunday.
Legislators, who are currently deliberating the presidential election bill in the House of Representatives, have yet to decide on the minimum percentage of the total vote that a party must win in the 2009 legislative elections to be eligible to nominate a presidential candidate. The House's factions are suggesting the threshold be between 15 and 30 percent.
Kristiadi said the 15-20 percent threshold could create a strong and solid coalition, as long as parties had the commitment to support the candidates and create political agreements.
"The parties must 'belong' to the government. The government and the candidates must share the same political agenda and make clear compromises. They must commit to maintain that agenda during the five-year term," Kristiadi said.
"What is happening now is there's no beneficial relationship between the government and the House, which has weakened President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's position. We don't want this to happen again in the future."
Political expert Ani W. Soetjipto of the University of Indonesia said the ideal threshold would be around 20 to 25 percent.
"It won't kill small and medium parties and will offer more candidates to the public, yet it could establish a quite stable coalition as well," she said.
According to Ani, only two parties would be able to nominate candidates if the threshold were set at 30 percent: the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
"I agree that a 30 percent threshold would create a stronger government. But the idea is too good to be true. For small parties, the higher threshold would not be fair," she said.
"It's not fair for them because they can't compete against the big parties. They are not ready yet, in terms of infrastructure and membership, but they also want the chance to run."
Lawmaker Ganjar Pranowo of the PDI-P said earlier his party had proposed the 15-30 percent threshold to secure permanent support of a presidential candidate.
"This is important because we don't want to repeat the case of Yudhoyono. He initially received fragmented support. That's why he has got a lot of strong critics in the final year of his term," he said.
Yudhoyono received support from his Democratic Party and the Crescent and Star Party (PBB) during the first round of the 2004 presidential election. In the second round, he received backing from the Golkar Party and other parties.
"We also want to push for a more affordable election next year," Ganjar said. "If a candidate can receive strong support, there would be only one round of elections and that would save a lot of time and money."