Electoral district to have between six to 12 seats<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The General Elections Commission (KPU) decided on Tuesday that an
\nelectoral district for the regional legislative councils (DPRDs)
\nin regencies and provinces would have on average six to 12 seats.<\/p>\n
KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti told reporters the
\ndistricting decision would be applied in a flexible manner, given
\nthe fact that the country's population was not evenly
\ndistributed.<\/p>\n
In a less populated area, each seat would represent 325,000
\npeople while in a densely populated area one seat would represent
\n425,000 people, Ramlan said.<\/p>\n
Based on this, some administrative areas would have to merge
\nto form an electoral district to meet the minimum requirements of
\nthe population of 1,950,000.<\/p>\n
Ramlan acknowledged that the new system would certainly spark
\nconfusion among people as not all of the district administrations
\nwould have representatives in the legislature.<\/p>\n
\"This will be the duty of KPU to explain to people at the
\ngrassroots level that an electoral district does not represent an
\nadministrative entity,\" Ramlan said after a KPU meeting.<\/p>\n
In the past, an electoral district was associated with an
\nadministrative entity of regency or district.<\/p>\n
The elections law stipulates that each electoral district will
\nhave an allocation of between three and 12 seats, with an
\nelectoral district covering a regency or a district or a merger
\nof regencies or districts.<\/p>\n
Deputy director of the Center for Electoral Reform (CETRO)
\nHadar N. Gumay hailed the KPU decision, saying it would improve
\nthe quality of representation of the elected legislative members.<\/p>\n
Hadar suggested that if possible the allocation of seats be
\npushed to 12 seats for every electoral district.<\/p>\n
\"The more the number of seats in every electoral district, the
\nbigger the opportunity for people's representation and in
\nparticular women's representation,\" Hadar told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He added that the decision would also give more room to small
\nor newly-formed political parties to contest seats at regional
\nlevel.<\/p>\n
Ramlan said the districting decision would also reduce the
\nnumber of electoral districts compared to that in the past,
\ntherefore lightening the work of the KPU, especially in the
\ndistribution of ballot papers.<\/p>\n
He said the KPU had decided not to strictly follow the
\nelections law regarding the districting for fear that it would
\nspark problems in the field.<\/p>\n
The KPU had earlier categorized electoral districts into three
\ngroups: Small electoral districts that will have between three to
\nfive seats, middle electoral districts with six to eight seats,
\nand big electoral districts with nine to 12 seats.<\/p>\n
The KPU will regroup on Wednesday to decide on electoral
\ndistricts in the election of House of Representatives
\nlegislators.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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