The Association for Elections and Democracy (Perkumpulan untuk Pemilu dan Demokrasi or Perludem) has submitted a judicial review to the Constitutional Court (MK) regarding the parliamentary threshold provision stipulated in Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections. The article under review is Article 414, paragraph (1), which states: 'Political Parties participating in the election must meet the threshold of at least 4% (four percent) of the total valid votes nationally to be eligible for seat allocation in the DPR (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat or the House of Representatives)”.
“If the votes do not reach 4 percent, then the voters' voices will be wasted, which is not in line with the mandate in Article 22E, paragraph 1, concerning direct, general, free, secret, honest, and fair elections," said the legal representative for the judicial review, Fadli Ramadhanil, in the main points of his petition, at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia on Tuesday, October 3rd.
Fadli mentioned that the parliamentary threshold should be designed with a rational and mathematical formula, conducted openly, fairly, and in accordance with the principles of proportional representation. According to this Perludem Program Manager, the judicial review regarding the parliamentary threshold is not aimed at eliminating the provision of the parliamentary threshold. However, the magnitude of the parliamentary threshold should be determined openly and in accordance with the principle of proportionality.
"In essence, proportional elections mean that the number of seats a political party obtains should align with their share of the vote in the legislative body, and this does not occur with the existence of this 4 percent parliamentary threshold," he said.
The parliamentary threshold was first introduced in the 2009 Elections. Based on Law Number 10 of 2008, the threshold was set at 2.5% of the total valid national votes and applied only to the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat or DPR). Then, in the 2014 elections through Law Number 8 of 2012, the parliamentary threshold was raised to 3.5% of the total valid national votes, and it became applicable to both the DPR and the Regional Legislative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah or DPRD)."
Furthermore, in the 2019 Elections and the upcoming 2024 Elections, based on Law Number 7 of 2017, it was stipulated that to obtain seats in the parliament, political parties must receive at least 4% of the total valid national votes. This applies to all members of the House of Representatives (DPR RI). []
Translated by Catherine Natalia
