VIVAnews - Head of Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Patra M Zen said that parliamentary threshold is only properly applied in a country with parliamentary system. "Instead of being implemented in a country with presidential system like Indonesia," said Zen on Wednesday, Jan 21.
This is the reason that the parliamentary threshold, attached in Law on General Elections, is being challenged by eleven political parties. The lawsuit was filed on 14 January 2009. They protested against the requirement that a party should have 2.5 percent of votes to gain a seat in the House of Representatives (DPR). The article which is being put through a material test is article 202 section 1, claimed as against the 1945 Constitution.
YLBHI was assigned the legal representative of the suing parties. According to Zen, there was manipulation that the Elections regulator committed when the Law on Elections was under preparation. In countries where parliamentary threshold is enacted, independent candidates can still be nominated in the Elections. Yet, he said, it is not applied in Indonesia.
Legislative candidates will also lose the opportunity to reach major votes in the Legislative Elections to represent constituent in the parliamentary. In a country applying parliamentary threshold, a legislative candidate may gain a seat in the parliamentary if he or she wins the Elections in his/her region.
This is contrary to what is happening in Indonesia, said Zen. In addition to applying parliamentary threshold, a legislative candidate who is capable of gaining major supports in his/her region may fail to obtain a seat if the party does not meet the parliamentary threshold.
Translated by: Bonardo Maulana Wahono
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