TII believes revisions to the Election Law should be directed towards political party reform
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The public policy research institute The Indonesian Institute (TII) believes that the strengthening push for revising the General Elections Law (UU Pemilu) should be directed as a momentum to promote political party reforms and improve the quality of democracy.
TII Research Associate Arfianto Purbolaksono assesses that the revision process of the UU Pemilu has often been caught in the tug-of-war of political interests.
“Revisions to the UU Pemilu are never in a vacuum. They always become an arena of contestation for the interests of political parties that hold dominant positions in legislation,” he stated in Jakarta on Friday.
According to him, this situation opens the door to policy capture, namely a condition where public policy more reflects the interests of certain groups rather than the broader public interest.
As a result, the substance of the UU Pemilu revisions has the potential to deviate from its original goal of strengthening the democratic system.
“Policy choices are often not based on the objective needs of the democratic system, but on who benefits and who is disadvantaged in political competition,” he said.
On the other hand, he believes that the need for revising the UU Pemilu remains urgent. Based on evaluations of previous election implementations, the simultaneous election design has been deemed to create a heavy workload for organisers and impact the quality of election execution.
Therefore, he believes that revisions to the UU Pemilu must be utilised as an instrument to drive more fundamental changes, particularly within political parties.
“The UU Pemilu can serve as an entry point for party reform, especially through regulations on the registration, nomination, and campaign financing stages,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of a more open, transparent political recruitment system based on meritocracy.
In addition, strengthening transparency and accountability in campaign financing is considered crucial to reduce transactional political practices.