Yusril Proposes Merging Party Votes at the End of the Election

Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who is the Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections and a constitutional law expert, has proposed merging political party votes at the end of the electoral process as a solution to prevent vote loss and to simplify the party system. ‘I think the most practical way to do this is if party mergers occur at the end of the elections. If at the start of the elections, you can’t predict how many seats will be won,’ Yusril told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Yusril said the system would give parties that do not reach a certain threshold or are short of seats the opportunity to form a faction, by cooperating with other parties to join after the election results are determined. Thus, votes cast by voters for those parties would not be wasted because they would not be converted into seats in parliament.

Yusril gave an example: if two parties each win seven seats, they could merge to meet the requirement to form a faction in the DPR. ‘Rather than being wasted, they agree to merge; as long as the two parties together have reached 13 seats, they can form a faction and enter the DPR,’ he said.

He also noted that the merger could generate a significant new political force. Indeed, according to Yusril, it is not impossible for non-parliamentary parties to surpass the vote share of larger parties through such a merger.

Yusril added that under the scheme, seat calculations would still be based on national valid votes as applies in the electoral system. The merger would take place at the stage of faction formation, not at the initial vote count. He also believes the mechanism would steer the party ecosystem toward simplifying political parties. Parties initially outside parliament could unite and, with a significant base of votes, potentially merge into a stronger political force.

‘I think there would be no wasted party votes, and I believe the system will gradually push toward party simplification,’ he said. Yusril believes the proposal could provide a solution to addressing the problem of potential loss of voters’ voices in Indonesia’s party system.