Perludem: Delay in Election Bill Proves Weak Commitment to Fixing Democracy

Deliberation of the Draft Election Law (RUU Pemilu) is considered something that can no longer be postponed if the DPR and the government are serious about improving the quality of Indonesian democracy.

The Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) believes the slow pace of deliberation on the Election Law revision instead demonstrates the weakness of political parties’ commitment to fixing the various problems that have repeatedly emerged in the administration of the 2019 and 2024 elections.

Perludem researcher Haykal said that to date the DPR has shown no seriousness in making the Election Law revision a legislative priority, even though the problems found in the last two elections have been documented and require regulatory change as a solution.

“The postponement of deliberation on the Election Bill indeed shows a very weak commitment from the political parties in the DPR to improve the system and the rules of the game, or the legal basis, for the conduct of elections in Indonesia,” he told Media Indonesia on Wednesday (5/8).

According to Haykal, the evaluation of the 2019 and 2024 elections has in fact provided a clear picture of the weaknesses of the electoral system. However, none of these problems can be resolved without revising the Election Law.

“The problems that have been found and inventoried as part of the evaluation of the 2024 and 2019 elections are becoming increasingly worrying, because we know that these problems can only be fixed through a revision of the Election Law,” he said.

Haykal also judged that the delay is not merely due to the DPR’s crowded legislative agenda, but rather the strength of the political interests of the parties sitting in parliament.

In his view, every change to the electoral rules affects each party’s strategy and electoral prospects, giving rise to a tendency to maintain the existing rules.

“We can also see that in the current situation, the revision of the Election Law is effectively holding hostage the electoral interests of many political parties in parliament, so there seems to be a reluctance to change and fix rules that have clearly produced problematic election administration,” he asserted.

Furthermore, Haykal reminded that the longer deliberation is postponed, the narrower the space for the public to take part in overseeing the regulatory drafting process.

Yet, in his view, the Election Law revision is one of the most important legal products because it will determine the quality of Indonesian democracy over the next five years.

On that basis, Haykal urged the DPR and the government to immediately open deliberation of the Election Bill in a transparent manner, involving civil society, academics, election administrators, and election monitoring organisations.

“The Election Bill should be opened to the public and promptly enacted so that the problems that have persisted do not keep recurring in the 2029 elections,” he said.

Deputy Chair of DPR Commission II Bahtra Banong acknowledged that he is still arranging a schedule of meetings with non-parliamentary political parties to discuss the revision of the Election Law.

Constitutional law expert Titi Anggraini of the University of Indonesia has pressed the DPR to deliberate the Election Bill promptly, warning that the delay threatens the integrity of the 2029 elections and ignores Constitutional Court rulings.

NasDem Party Chairman Surya Paloh stressed that the Election Bill must guarantee fair play among participants and organisers, not merely legal formality.

The DPR leadership together with Commission II is scheduled to conduct a political safari and gather aspirations from non-parliamentary political parties and election watchdog organisations regarding the Election Bill.

Political communication experts have urged that the Election Bill include firm articles to abolish political dowries, money politics, and witness costs in order to reduce the expense of regional elections.

Nisa assessed that this situation is inseparable from the interests of political parties, which treat electoral rules as an important instrument in determining their chances of winning seats in parliament.

According to Haykal, the Constitutional Court has in fact established a legal precedent through its 2024 ruling on the legislative election dispute for DPRD Gorontalo Electoral District 6.

Since late last year, civil society has drafted a proposed codified Election Law as a reference for the DPR and the government.

He also criticised the renewed talk of abolishing direct regional elections on the pretext of budget efficiency.