Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Golkar Party has announced it will fight for a higher parliamentary threshold in the legislative body in the interests of forming a stronger and more effective future government.

Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie said his party would propose a 7.5 percent parliamentary threshold, an increase of 5 percent from the current 2.5 percent, in the planned revision of the political laws.

"Indonesia needs a strong and effective government to allow the nation to develop a better democracy and compete with its neighbors," he said in a press conference that concluded the party's leadership meeting here on Tuesday.

Aburizal said the party's policy was in line with the result of a recent survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle that showed the public had become disenchanted by mushrooming political parties. A higher threshold, he added, would hopefully reduce the number of political parties to two or three in parliament.

More than 140 political parties are registered at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, but only 46 were found eligible to contend the 2009 legislative election. Aburizal said the party would also propose a district-based electoral system to increase efficiency.

"We want to form a strong legislative body with qualified legislators representing the political aspirations of their constituents more than their political parties. This is an effective way to repair the House of Representatives' tarnished image."

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) have recently called for the parliamentary threshold to be increased to 5 percent or above to encourage the next government and the parliament to focus on addressing major national problems such as unemployment and poverty and improving social welfare.

Separately, PDI-P politician and legislator Gandjar Pranowo said that based on the nation's 12-year post-reform experience, the presence of numerous political parties at the House did not benefit democracy or the people.

Under the current 2.5 percent parliamentary threshold, 10 political parties, including the PD, Golkar and the PDI-P share 560 seats at the House. If the 7.5 percent parliamentary threshold had been enforced in the 2009 legislative election, only those and the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) would have won seats at the House.