Golkar Responds to Paloh on 2029 Election Fairness: Stricter Rules Needed

Golkar Deputy Chairman Ahmad Doli Kurnia agrees with NasDem Party Chairman Surya Paloh on the importance of conducting the 2029 General Election in a sporting manner. According to Doli, this must be realised through improvements to the electoral system and the formulation of stricter regulations.

‘I agree that the Election Law must be able to guarantee an improvement in the quality of our electoral system. It is time for us to seriously draft the Election Law,’ Doli said when contacted on Thursday (23/7/2026).

He assessed that one aspect requiring attention is strengthening representation within the electoral system. A number of issues, such as the electoral system, thresholds, district magnitude, and the method of converting votes into legislative seats, need to be examined more deeply.

‘I think this is also what Mr Surya Paloh meant by the need for a system that prioritises sportsmanship. Regarding this, we need to ensure there are more detailed, firm, and consistent rules to eliminate moral hazard practices in elections, such as political transactional practices, money politics, vote buying, and so on,’ he continued.

Furthermore, Doli encouraged an evaluation of the institutional framework of election organisers. He proposed that the recruitment mechanism for election organisers be made more selective.

‘Still in this context, we also need to reformulate the institutional format of our election organisers, including a more selective recruitment and selection mechanism so that the KPU, Bawaslu, DKPP, or whatever they are called in the future, are filled by people with high integrity, adequate electoral science capacity, capable communication, and sufficient experience,’ he added.

This member of the House of Representatives Commission II also stressed the importance of building a healthy democratic culture within society. According to him, the public must view elections as part of their constitutional responsibility to determine the nation’s future direction, free from intimidation, pressure, hate speech, or manipulation.

‘Ideally, elections should produce representative, quality, and clean government institutions that meet expectations and consistently receive public support to advance the nation together with the people,’ he said.

Previously, Surya Paloh responded to the ongoing discussions on the Draft Election Law. He stated he had no issue with whatever electoral model or system is adopted for the future, as long as the competition is conducted in a sporting manner.

‘This is where I always remind everyone of one thing we must not take lightly, namely the sportsmanship of election participants and organisers. So, we are ready for any kind of contest in the competition. However, what is the point of that competition if we do not respect the values of sportsmanship that should prevail?’ Paloh said.