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Seat allocation confirms fragmented House
The General Elections Commission (KPU) announced on Wednesday the official results of the allocation of the 560 seats at the House of Representatives, which confirmed the prediction that the next administration would likely deal with a highly fragmented legislative branch
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The General Elections Commission (KPU) announced on Wednesday the official results of the allocation of the 560 seats at the House of Representatives, which confirmed the prediction that the next administration would likely deal with a highly fragmented legislative branch.
In terms of legislative seats, there will not be a single dominant party emerging from this year's legislative election, unlike the 2009 election, which saw the ruling Democratic Party secure 150 seats out of the total 560 seats in the House.
According to the KPU, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) got a total of 109 seats or 19.5 percent of seats in the House.
The remaining 451 seats have been distributed among the nine political parties that met the legislative threshold of 3.5 percent of the popular vote.
Meanwhile, the Golkar Party, which placed second, secured 91 seats, with eight incumbents returning for a second term. In 2009, Golkar got 107 seats.
Prabowo Subianto's Gerindra Party, which came in third, gained 73 seats, almost three times the 26 seats the party got in the 2009 legislative election.
The ruling Democratic Party suffered a serious setback after only securing 61 seats, a steep drop from the 150 seats it won in 2009.
In recent years, the party has had to deal with various graft accusations leveled against many of its politicians including former chairman Anas Urbaningrum, who is currently standing trial for his role in rigging the Hambalang Sports Complex construction project.
Coming in fifth position was the National Mandate Party (PAN), which got 49 seats, followed by the National Awakening Party (PKB) with 47 seats.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Islamic-based United Development Party (PPP) each secured 40 and 39 seats, respectively.
Political analyst at Jakarta-based Political Communication (Polcomm) Institute Heri Budianto said that the new composition of the House would result in a fragmented legislature.
'With such a composition, it is going to be difficult for the ruling party, in this case if the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle [PDI-P] wins the presidential election, to get support for its policies from the House. The composition will not be good for decision-making at the House,' Heri said. (tjs)
