Expert Highlights Political Parties' Focus on Threshold, Ignoring Crucial Election Issues

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Executive Director of the Network for Democracy and Electoral Integrity (NETGRIT) Hadar Nafis Gumay has highlighted the narrow focus of political parties and the DPR in discussions on revising the Election Law (UU Pemilu). According to Hadar, excessive attention on issues like the parliamentary threshold has led to the neglect of crucial election matters. “For instance, we often hear them discussing—as they claim to be political parties and DPR factions—about the parliamentary threshold. In my view, that is one important element or engineering aspect, but it is more about narrowing the competition among election participants,” Hadar said at a virtual Public Forum event on Monday (4/5/2026). “It does not address, for example, our desire for organisers that truly possess integrity, independence in carrying out their duties, and high professionalism,” he added. Hadar emphasised that fundamental issues like the quality of election organisers stem from problematic recruitment processes. In his opinion, election organisers are often not fully independent because they are selected by political actors who are also election participants. “We already have a long record of serious problems in organising our elections,” Hadar stated. “Vote-buying, for example, is a major issue. It will not be resolved simply by talking about thresholds,” he said. Hadar added that focusing on threshold regulations or reducing the number of election participants will not solve other problems, such as the complexity of the election system that burdens voters. “It will not create an election where voters are not confused or troubled,” he explained. Therefore, Hadar urged that discussions on revising the UU Pemilu be started immediately, but in a comprehensive manner and not limited to mere technical aspects. “If this is not discussed soon, we will not have a law or elections of better quality,” he concluded.