Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – Sujito, a 43-year-old personal driver, remembers the bad old days of the Suharto years, when elections involved just three parties and the results were never really in doubt.

But having voted in the 2009 legislative elections, which featured a dizzying choice of parties and candidates, he can't help but wonder if it isn't too much of a good thing.

He is not alone. Most people are happy to have more choice when they step into the voting booth, but many are concerned that there are just too many parties, confusing the process and ultimately contributing to policy gridlock in the government.

Sujito describes voting in the 2009 elections as a confusing affair. From the sheer size of the ballot paper to the bewildering number of 38 political parties to choose from, he did not know where to start.

During the New Order regime, voters had a choice of three parties in President Suharto's tightly controlled elections. After the regime fell, 48 political parties sprang up in the new climate of democratic reform to contest House seats in the 1999 elections. Half of that number ran in the 2004 elections, but that number was up to 38 last year.

"Having more than three is good, but 38 really is just too many," Sujito said. "We do not even know what each party is actually offering. Most likely they are offering the same things. They should really reduce the number of political parties."

That may happen as the House of Representatives pushes plans to double the minimum threshold of votes required to take a seat in the legislature from the current 2.5 percent to 5 percent. If the plan goes through, it would eliminate many of the smaller parties from future elections.

Antonius Gatot Indrasto, 27, a credit analyst, believes winnowing out the smaller parties makes sense in terms of improving how the government is run.

"Having too many parties in the House makes it difficult for the government to run the country," he said. "There are just way too many opinions. I believe that just four or five parties is an ideal number. There would also be less lobbying," he added, "something that eventually just becomes all about the money anyway."

Maulana, a bank employee, said that although having a diversity of voices in the House was an essential element of democracy, it often "creates more problems than it solves."

Calling himself an avid follower of Indonesian politics, he said that having too many parties often led to conflict. "With so many parties, an opposition party can end up being in the ruling coalition, and vice versa," he said, pointing to Golkar's break from the ruling Democrats during the investigation into the Bank Century bailout.

He said the current system also allowed minority-interest parties with insignificant numbers "to bark and disrupt" the process in the House. "A country as democratic as the United States only has two major political parties. And they're doing so much better than us," Maulana said. "If necessary, we should increase the threshold to 10 percent."

Proponents of the threshold increase argue that having fewer parties in the legislature would serve to strengthen the presidential system because the government would not have to accommodate so many voices in pushing through its programs and policies.

Opponents see it differently. They say raising the threshold would be undemocratic by denying smaller parties the chance to be part of the government. But they seem to be outnumbered by voters like Sujito and Maulana who want to see the party system simplified. At least three national surveys have indicated the majority of people want fewer parties in the House.

With a good chance the threshold will rise, political parties have begun to form coalitions to ensure their continued presence in the House. Some have opted for full mergers, while others are considering the confederation system proposed by the National Mandate Party (PAN), which would see different parties join together while retaining their separate names and identities.

"That is a good solution, so people won't have the problem of having to choose from too many parties. They're selling the same things anyway," Antonius said.

But experts have warned that the threshold increase could result in coalitions of political parties with vastly different platforms and ideologies.

"That shouldn't be a problem. As long as they share the same general views," Antonius said. "Voters these days are smart enough to know what they're choosing." Sujito doesn't agree. "If two parties join together while sharing different beliefs, that's hypocritical," he said.

Maulana predicted that parties with different ideologies might find themselves cozying up prior to the elections, before disintegrating into conflict once they reached the House.

Furthermore, increasing the threshold would not deter small parties from running, he said. He believed that smaller parties would continue to participate in elections, even if they had little chance of actually getting a seat in the legislature. "It gives supporters of small parties false hope," he said.