Factions adjust on threshold

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 06/21/2008 12:22 PM | National

House of Representatives factions on Friday made progress on the presidential election bill, with small and medium parties compromising on the threshold needed to nominate a presidential candidate.

"Now, the threshold has converged between 15 to 30 percent of House seats. Factions will resolve this in further discussions," said Lena Maryana Mukti, a member of the House special team deliberating the presidential election bill.

The National Mandate Party (PAN), the Star Reform Party (PBR) and the Democratic Pioneer Star Party (BPD) demanded a more lenient threshold ranging from zero to 10 percent of House seats.

After three days of closed meetings, the three agreed to a higher threshold of 15 percent, joining the United Development Party (PPP), the Democratic Party (PD), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS).

PAN faction chairman Zulkifli Hasan said his party supported a softer conditionality on the threshold to avoid giving the impression that the parties were restricting public choices.

"We had proposed that any party passing a 2.5 percent elementary threshold would be allowed to nominate a presidential candidate. But we must be realistic in this matter, as no other factions proposed the same threshold. Now we've agreed on a moderate threshold, 15 percent of the House's seats," he said.

The Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the two biggest factions at the House, are proposing higher thresholds of 30 percent and 20 percent of House seats, respectively.

Both factions argued this would create a more effective government with strong support from the legislature.

"The current government has wasted energy on gaining support from the House," said Pramono Anung, PDI-P secretary-general.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla were nominated by the Democratic Party which only secured 57 of the House's 550 seats. Later several other parties, including Golkar, formed a coalition with the Democratic Party.

In what many consider a surprising move, the conflict-ridden National Awakening Party (PKB) is proposing a threshold of 30 percent even though the party only has 52 seats (9.5 percent) at the House.

Maswadi Rauf, a political observer from the University of Indonesia, said the factions would resolve the threshold debate with a political compromise.