KPU allots extra seats in 37 electoral districts

KPU allots extra seats in 37 electoral districts

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has allocated more than 12
seats in provincial and regency/municipality legislative councils
in 37 electoral districts, which is in breach of the law.

"The KPU has no choice but to violate the law," its deputy
chairman Ramlan Surbakti said on Friday.

Law No. 12/2003 on elections stipulates that one electoral
district is allocated between three and 12 seats.

"Under the state administrative law, the KPU has discretionary
powers to take special measures in circumstances that were not
taken into account by lawmakers during the drafting of the law.
Besides, the KPU will also seek a legal opinion from the Supreme
Court regarding this decision," he argued.

Among the electoral districts allocated more seats than their
fair share are Tangerang regency with 27 seats, Serang regency
(15), both in Banten; South Jakarta (16), East Jakarta (21), and
West Jakarta (18); Sleman regency (16), Bantul regency (14), both
in Yogyakarta; Palembang municipality (13) in South Sumatra;
Batam (21) in Riau; Deli Serdang regency (15) and Medan
municipality (14) in North Sumatra; Rejang Lebong regency (13) in
Bengkulu; Gorontalo regency (16) in Gorontalo; East Lombok
regency (14) in West Nusa Tenggara; and Central Maluku (19) in
Maluku.

The KPU could have split a regency/municipality and
subdistrict into several electoral districts, but this would also
violate the Election Law, he said.

This is not the first time the KPU has deviated from the law.
Earlier, it decided to merge Tebing Tinggi municipality (1 seat)
with Deli Serdang regency (15 seats) into one electoral district
with 16 seats and integrated Bau Bau city with Buton regency into
one electoral district with 13 seats.

According to the law, one electoral district consists of a
regency or a combination of regencies/municipalities.

The KPU's decision to allot seats of between six and 12 seats
to one electoral district is aimed at allowing new political
parties equal opportunity to compete with the existing parties,
albeit with several exceptions.

One of the exceptions is to categorize a regency/municipality
or subdistrict with more than 12 seats as one electoral district,
which is in line with the proportional electoral system.

Another exception is to classify a regency/municipality or
subdistrict with three to five seats as one electoral district
due to transportation problems. This is applied for remote areas
that make access difficult.

Also on Friday, the KPU distributed the electoral district map
for provincial and regencies/municipalities legislative councils
among the Regional General Elections Commissions (KPUDs).

The map provides a comprehensive picture of the number of
electoral districts, their locations and seat allocations.

Jakarta, for example, is divided into five electoral districts
to be allocated with 75 seats in the Jakarta Provincial
Legislative Council.

Electoral district one is Central Jakarta with eight seats,
electoral district two is East Jakarta (21), electoral district
three is South Jakarta (16), electoral district four is West
Jakarta (18) and electoral district five is North Jakarta and
Seribu Islands, with a total of 12 seats.

Bali is split into seven electoral districts to be allotted 55
seats in its Provincial Legislative Council.

Electoral district one is Denpasar with eight seats, electoral
district two is Badung (7), electoral district three consists of
Tabanan and Jembrana with 11 seats, electoral district four is
Buleleng (10), electoral district five consists of Bangli and
Klungkung with a total of six seats, electoral district six is
Karangasem (6) and electoral district seven is Gianyar (7).

There are a total of 69 electoral districts for seats in the
House of Representatives, 200 electoral districts for seats in
provincial legislative councils, and 1,565 electoral districts
for the seats in regencies/municipalities legislative councils.