MK WARNS OF POTENTIAL DISPUTES IN COMING ELECTIONS

Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 13 (ANTARA) - The struggle of 11 small political parties against the 2.5-percent parliamentary threshold clause in the election law came to naught on Friday when the Constitutional Court (MK) rejected their demand for a judicial review of the rule.

        The parties had filed a lawsuit with the MK demanding a judicial review of article 202 section (1) of the Law on General Elections which they argued violated the 1945 Constitution.

        Under the clause, a political party would have the right to be represented in the House of Representatives (DPR) only if it had won enough votes in the legislative election to occupy at least 2.5 percent of the 550 seats in the legislature.

        The parties that filed judicial review suit were the Democratic Renewal Party, or PDP; the Patriot Party; the Regional Unity Party, or PPD; the National People's Concern Party, or PPRN; the Prosperous Indonesia Party, or PIS; the Freedom Bull National Party, or PNBK; the New Indonesia Alliance Party, or PPIB; the Functional Party of Struggle; the People's Conscience Party, or Hanura; the Indonesian Democratic Party of Devotion, or PKDI; and the Freedom Party.

        With the rejection by MK of the 11 parties' judicial review request, the election law will smoothly be enforced where a legislative candidate, even if he or she wins lots of votes, will not be able to secure a parliamentary seat if his or her party fails to meet the parliamentary threshold's minimum requirement of 2.5 percent.

        "There is a big potential of disputes in the coming elections," MK Chairman Mahfud MD warned members of the General Elections Commission (KPU) in a meeting on Friday.

        He said the parliamentary threshold was a sensitive issue in the April 9, 2009 legislative elections because it would decide whether or not a party would be eliminated.

        "If a political party only wins, for example, 2.4 percent of the parliamentary seats, it is not impossible that it will lodge a protest with the regional KPU that its votes have been reduced due to miscalculation or fraud," Mahfud said.

        Therefore, the MK chairman warned 400 regional KPU members of the great dispute potential of the legislative elections this year.

        "Please be careful in handling the elections because like it or not, disputes will happen," Mahfud warned saying that a KPU decision should be based on honesty and high integrity, not on a demand from a certain party.

        Abdul Hafiz Anshary, chairman of the KPU, agreed that the parliamentary threshold issue could lead to disputes. "Candidates who have won but get dropped because the party did not pass the threshold may file lawsuits," he was quoted by the Jakarta Globe as saying.

        A similar view was voiced by Roy B.B. Janis, chairman of PDP, who said that the rule may lead to conflicts. "Legislative candidates who win lots of votes and fail to become legislators may file a lawsuit with the court," Janis said.

        Despite the warnings on potential disputes, the House of Representatives welcomed the MK decision to reject the judicial review filed by the 11 minor political parties. DPR Speaker Agung Laksono said the MK decision was correct.

        "The decision is expected to encourage political parties to exceed the legislative threshold so that their existence is recognized by the people as reflected by significant representation in the House," Laksono said.

        He said the parliamentary threshold was an instrument to rationalize the number of political parties. A small number of political parties would reinforce the country's presidential system. At present, the presidential system in Indonesia was ambivalent because it was adopted amid a multiple political party system.

        The aim of the MK decision is in line with the presidential system where the number of political parties will automatically be reduced through a selection of the people in the general elections.

        Anas Urbaningrum, an executive chairman of the Democrat Party, also hailed the MK decision as a correct step to create a sound atmosphere for national politics and political party system in the future.

        "The MK decision is correct in the framework of simplifying the political party system," Urbaningrum told the press at the Parliament building.

        Simplification of political parties could only be achieved through the implementation of the electoral threshold and parliamentary threshold systems.

        The electoral threshold would filter parties which will have the right to take part in the following legislative elections while the parliamentary threshold will screen them from having a seat in the House.

        But the parliamentary threshold will not eliminate the existence of a political party because it only restricts a party from winning a legislative seat in the House of Representatives (DPR), not a seat in the regional representative assembly (DPRD).

        "A regional legislative candidate who wins a lot of votes in the region will have the right to be appointed a regional councilor, even if his or her party failed to achieve the 2.5 percent legislative threshold requirement," he said.***1*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/16:30/a014) (T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 14-02-2009 16:57:43