Response to Yusril's Proposal: Golkar Suggests 5 Percent Parliamentary Threshold

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Golkar Party Secretary General Muhammad Sarmuji has proposed a parliamentary threshold of 5 percent as an ideal figure, in response to the proposal from Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correctional Services Yusril Ihza Mahendra. Sarmuji stated that political parties with few seats in parliament would be the busiest, as they would have to attend multiple meetings simultaneously, including commission meetings and meetings of the House’s working bodies. “For the parliamentary threshold, we propose a moderate figure, namely 5 percent. Slightly above the parliamentary threshold in the previous election,” Sarmuji said in Jakarta on Thursday. He added that Yusril’s proposal to match the parliamentary threshold with the number of DPR RI commissions would be more appropriate as a requirement for forming a faction, rather than the parliamentary threshold. If so, Sarmuji proposes that the faction formation threshold be set at twice the number of House working bodies (AKD). As is known, the number of House working bodies in the DPR consists of 13 commissions plus seven bodies. According to him, a 5 percent figure as the parliamentary threshold is quite ideal. All political parties still have the opportunity to reach that threshold, and it is up to the people to decide. “A combination of the parliamentary threshold and the faction formation threshold will help the presidential system of government run more effectively,” said the Chairman of the Golkar Party Faction in the DPR RI. Previously, Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correctional Services Yusril Ihza Mahendra proposed that the number of DPR RI commissions be used as the threshold for political parties participating in the legislative elections to sit in parliament and form a faction. Yusril explained that the intent behind the number of commissions is that each political party must obtain at least 13 seats in the DPR RI, as there are currently 13 commissions in the DPR RI. “For example, the reference is actually how many commissions there are in the DPR. That is now regulated in the standing orders, it should be regulated in the law,” Yusril said after attending a Technical Guidance event for DPRD members in Jakarta on Wednesday (29/4).