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Parties rally to reject PDI's proposal to adopt closed-list electoral system
Eight out of nine political parties at the House of Representatives have expressed strong opposition to a push to return to a closed-list electoral system for 2024 legislative elections.
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Officials prepare ballot boxes and other voting materials in Jakarta ahead of the 2019 presidential and legislative elections. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
Eight out of nine political parties at the House of Representatives have reiterated their strong opposition to a push to return to a closed-list electoral system for the coming legislative elections.
Currently, Indonesia allows voters to choose among legislative candidates on open-list ballots, rather than just from among political parties under the closed-list proportional representation format for legislative elections. But a member of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is challenging the 2017 General Elections Law at the Constitutional Court, seeking to restore the closed-list format, in which voters solely vote for parties that in turn exclusively decide the winning candidates proportionate to the number of votes won.
In a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday, chairs and deputy chairs of these parties, including two opposition parties, the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), issued a five‐point statement rejecting the old system.
"The closed-list proportional representation is a setback for our democracy," Golkar Party chair Airlangga Hartarto said as quoted by kompas.tv, adding that the eight parties also called on the General Elections Commission (KPU) to maintain its independence.
Leadership of the Gerindra Party did not attend Sunday's event but the party is committed to the joint statement, according to Airlangga.
The PDI-P is the only party at the House that supports the idea of returning to the old electoral system. The party, which has long sought the return of the closed-list ballot, has insisted that the open-list format encourages vote-buying and the elevation of individuals over parties in elections.
Earlier this month, the eight political factions in the House stressed their shared opposition to changing the current open-list system, describing the prevailing mechanism as “progressive and characteristic of our democracy” that should be maintained.
