PKB: Parliamentary threshold must be proportional and simplify political parties

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Member of Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) from the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction, Muhammad Khozin, believes that the determination of the parliamentary threshold should be based on two criteria: ensuring the proportionality of the elections and promoting the simplification of political parties within the framework of strengthening the presidential system.

According to him, Constitutional Court Decision No. 116/PUU-XXI/2023 should serve as a guideline in determining the size of the parliamentary threshold in the amendment of the Election Law.

“Therefore, PKB is conducting in-depth studies and simulations to ensure that the ideal parliamentary threshold meets the spirit of proportionality and simplification of political parties,” said Khozin in Jakarta on Wednesday.

In addition, he believes that other breakthroughs are needed to accommodate the spirit of proportionality and simplification of political parties. The method of counting votes, he said, is one of the important elements in presenting proportionality as well as simplification of parties.

“In the 2009 elections, a model of counting residual votes in electoral districts (dapil) was applied, which were then transferred to the province to be converted into seats without changing the structure of the dapil,” he said.

On the other hand, he also mentioned the idea of implementing a vote-counting system with the largest remainder method (BPP) as a form of strengthening the proportional electoral system.

“Mathematically, this model of calculation represents the proportionality of the election,” he said.

According to him, the various proposals that have emerged in the public sphere are important to be carefully considered and calculated to ensure that the proportionality of the election and the simplification of political parties can be realized in the 2029 elections.

“The 2029 elections must be a stepping stone for the consolidation of a just, stable, and well-established democracy,” he said.