The chairman of the Special Committee of the Draft Law of the Implementation of General Elections, Lukman Edy, looks back as he waits for the arrival of members of the Formulating Team and Synchronization Team before the start of a closed meeting at the House complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (6/7).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The general elections bill, which is still incomplete as of mid-July, has caused election organizers to fear that preparations for the election in terms of budget and technical regulations will be disrupted. The election organizers hope that the government and the House of Representatives can sit together and put the national interest first in relation to the 2019 simultaneous elections.
In the draft of the election bill that is being deliberated on at present, it is stated that the stages of election are to start on October 1, 2017, with the verification of political parties. However, in Law No. 8/2012 on Legislative Elections, which is still in effect, it is stated that the stages of the election must start in July of this year.
To anticipate the possibility of an unfinished election bill, the General Elections Commission (KPU) in June sent two versions of the KPU regulation draft (PKPU) on program stages and schedules to the House, consisting of one draft that refers to Law No. 8/2012 and another that refers to the latest developments in the election bill. However, the House plans to hold a meeting to deliberate on the PKPU after the election bill is ratified.
Head of the Elections Supervisory Committee (Bawaslu), Abhan, who was contacted in Jakarta on Wednesday (12/7), said the prolonged delay of the ratification of the election bill meant that the preparation time for the election would be further cut short. He hopes that the government and the House can quickly work together to speed up the ratification of the bill in the interest of the nation.
Concerned
KPU chairman Arief Budiman is worried about the preparation for the election budget. The election bill will affect the budget structure. Budget deliberations cannot be done quickly because they involve other parties outside of the KPU, unlike the preparation for the PKPU, which can be accelerated even though it still requires House approval.
“The next challenge is the technical regulation. Looking at the election bill draft, there are more than 20 PKPUs that we must make. It is not easy,” said Arief, who added that in the last legislative and presidential elections, the number of PKPUs prepared was less than 20.
Political parties and the government are asked to be tolerant and reach a consensus on the five crucial issues that will be decided this Thursday. A political deadlock should be avoided because the risks posed by going back to the old law are too great.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) politics researcher Syamsuddin Haris said that if the government had to issue a government regulation in lieu of law as a result of a halted deliberation, the preparations by election organizers would take up a long time.
“The House and the government must make a wise decision. The 2019 election will be conducted simultaneously and so a new legal umbrella is needed. If deliberation for consensus is not achieved, there should not be deadlock. The effort to vote on crucial issues can be done,” she said.
Yesterday, the special committee for the election bill formulated five packages to address crucial issues, which according to plan, will be determined through deliberation at the special committee level on Thursday. If the option of the available packages cannot be agreed upon, the House and the government will discuss the option of voting in a plenary meeting forum.
“There is another option if they fail to reach an agreement, which is voting in the plenary session. This means that completing the bill does mean withdrawing oneself and going back to the old law,” said head of the special committee for the election bill, Lukman Edy.
Five options
The five package options for crucial issues were prepared by the election bill special committee. Package A (supported by PDI-P, Golkar, NasDem, PPP, Hanura) consists of a threshold of 20 percent of seats for presidential candidacy or 25 percent of national votes. The threshold for House members, meanwhile, is 4 percent of national votes, an open-list proportional poll system, seat allocation of 3-10 per electoral region and a pure Sainte Lague method for the conversion of votes to seats.
Package B (supported by Gerindra, Democratic Party and PKS) consists of a presidential candidacy threshold of zero percent of seats, a legislative threshold of 4 percent, an open-list proportional poll system, a seat allocation of 3-10 per electoral region and a Kuota Hare method for the conversion of votes to seats.
Package C (backed by PPP and NasDem) consists of a presidential candidacy threshold of 10 percent of seats or 15 percent of national votes, a legislative threshold of 4 percent, an open-list proportional poll system, a seat allocation of 3-10 percent per electoral region and a Kuota Hare method for the conversion of votes to seats.
Package D (supported by PKB) consists of a presidential candidacy threshold of 10 percent of seats or 15 percent of national votes, a legislative threshold of 5 percent, an open-list proportional poll system, a seat allocation of 3-8 percent per electoral region and a pure Sainte Lague method for the conversion of votes to seats.
Package E (supported by PAN) consists of a presidential candidacy threshold of 10 percent of seats or 25 percent of national votes, a legislative threshold of 3.5 percent, an open-list proportional poll system, a seat allocation of 3-10 percent per electoral region and a Kuota Hare method for the conversion of votes to seats.
