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id-tier parties in the government-led coalition have strongly opposed the government’s proposal to set the parliamentary threshold in the 2014 election to 4 percent, saying that as the big parties had backed the proposal, the coalition was unfair.

The mid-tier parties prefer a 2.5 to 3 percent threshold.

On Wednesday night, the government proposed to the House of Representatives to increase the threshold to 4 percent from the current level of 2.5 percent. Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi announced the plan when forwarding a list of issues (DIM) to the working committee for the election law revision.

Gamawan said that the increase was needed to develop the country politically. He said that the new figure would create checks-and-balances between the party system and the presidential system, as the 2.5 percent threshold in the 2009 election had not produced an effective multiparty system.

The Democratic Party, the ruling party and leader of the coalition, agreed to a 4 percent threshold, meaning that a party must receive 4 percent of the vote to be represented in the House.

Another big coalition member, the Golkar Party, insisted on a 5 percent threshold.

The rest of the coalition includes the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

PKB central executive board head and legislator Abdul Malik Haramain asserted that the coalition was being unfair to mid-tier parties.

“The coalition only accommodates the big parties. Its’ agendas are discriminatory and it does not take other members’ interests into consideration,” Abdul told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

“I say its better to disband the coalition.”

He asserted that the coalition’s big parties, the Democratic Party and Golkar, were still insisting on setting a 4 to 5 percent threshold and choosing to put aside the interests of other members.

Abdul said that a reasonable figure accommodating all parties within the coalition would be 3 to 3.5 percent.

PPP secretary-general Romahurmuziy, who said that the PPP preferred a 2.5 percent threshold, also slammed the proposal, saying that it was suggested by the coalition government, of which the Democratic Party was the ruling party.

PAN has also said that the plan was “only a tyranny of the majority” that failed to consider the interests of smaller parties.

Conversely, the PKS, which have in the past been dubbed troublemakers, agreed with the proposal.

“We have no problem with the 4 percent because from the beginning we offered a 3 to 4 percent threshold,” PKS deputy secretary-general Mahfudz Siddiq said.

He said that in seeking such a compromise, negotiation would be better and that voting must be avoided in order to navigate away from any political rifts.

Often opposed to the government’s stance in the legislature, the PKS has often threatened to leave the coalition. It once threatened to create a “central axis” with the PPP to rival the Democratic Party.

Democratic Party deputy secretary-general Saan Mustofa denied that his party had driven the government to propose the 4 percent threshold.

“Of course not. The government has its own scholars who have come up with the 4 percent,” Saan said.

He asserted that “4 percent would be the middle ground”, as some parties still pursued a 2.5 or 3 percent threshold.

He said that objections might be brought to a coalition meeting to find a better solution.