Democrat Calls for Abolition of Presidential Threshold

Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party, Benny K. Harman, has called for the 20 percent presidential nomination threshold to be abolished in the revision of the Election Law. According to Benny, the provision contradicts the principle of popular sovereignty and is not in line with the Constitutional Court’s ruling. “The 20 percent limitation, in my view, is not in line with the principle of popular sovereignty as stipulated in Article 1 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution. Yet we have implemented it since the 2004, 2009, 2014 elections, up to the most recent one,” Benny said during a public discussion on the prospects for electoral democracy in 2029 in Tangerang on Tuesday. The member of House Commission III stressed that the revision of the Election Law must ensure the people have the space to determine their leaders. Therefore, he argued, the number of presidential candidates should not be excessively limited by a threshold requirement set by law. Benny assessed that the practice of the presidential threshold has diminished the meaning of elections as a manifestation of popular sovereignty. He emphasised that the people must be given the freedom to assess and choose as many national leadership candidates as are proposed through constitutional mechanisms. According to him, this view is reinforced by the Constitutional Court’s ruling on simultaneous elections, which stipulates that legislative and presidential elections are held at the same time. With this system, Benny considers it illogical for the results of the previous election five years prior to still be used as a requirement for presidential candidacy in the subsequent election. “It is rather strange that the Constitutional Court’s ruling on simultaneous elections already exists, but we in the House still affirm the results of the election five years ago as a requirement to nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Law is common sense,” he said.