With the current power of the political parties, the change will occur more quickly and effectively, if it begins from within the party.
By
KOMPAS EDITOR
·3 minutes read
KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN
Flags of political parties on the edge of Jalan Cinere Raya, Depok, West Java, Wednesday (30/3/2022). Even though the election is still two years away, political parties have installed party attributes in public places.
There will not be as many political parties taking part in the 2024 general election as in previous years, so it will be easier for voters. This is one of the expectations about the upcoming elections.
Such as an expectation, as shown in the results of the Kompas poll published on Monday (25/7/2022), is not surprising and quite logical. On 14 Feb. 2024, voters, except in Jakarta, will receive five ballots, namely to elect the president-vice president, members of the House of Representatives (DPR), members of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and members of Regional Legislative Councils (DPRD) in provinces and city/regencies.
With five ballots, of course, it takes extra energy for voters to make the right choice. Moreover, ballots to elect members of DPR, Provincial DPRD and City/Regency DPRD will contain a list of political parties and names of candidates for legislative members.
This difficulty in choosing could be seen in the 2019 general election, which was participated in by 16 parties at the national level and 4 local parties in Special Region of Aceh. At that time, there were 17,503,953 invalid votes in the DPR election. The invalid votes accounted for 11.12 percent of the ballots in the election.
The number of election participants also has an implication for cost. To print five ballots in the 2019 election, around 31,460 tons of paper was needed with a total printing cost of Rp 559.6 billion.
KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO
Chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Hasyim Asy'ari attends the socialization of KPU Regulation Number 4 of 2022 concerning Registration, Verification, and Determination of Political Parties Participating in the General Elections for Members of DPR and Regional DPR at KPU Office, Jakarta, Monday (25/7/2022) ). The event was attended by representatives of political parties.
There are currently two major opinions regarding the number of political parties participating in the election. There is an opinion that the government will be more stable and effective if there are fewer political parties. For this reason, party simplification is needed and it must be carried out naturally.
However, there is also an opinion that a large number of parties are needed to respond to the vast territory and diversity of Indonesia's population.
Apart from the two opinions above, party registration to participate in the 2024 General Election will be opened on 1 Aug. In addition, there are practically no significant changes to the rules regarding the requirements for parties to participate in the 2024 General Election, as compared to the 2019 Election.
If we examine further the results of the Kompas poll conducted between 1 July and 3 July 2021, there were other things that the public expected from the political parties, besides the issue of numbers. The respondents, for example, hoped the political parties would be more open in recruiting their members and leaders. The parties should not only carry out their activities ahead of the election.
Now, the political parties have the opportunity to respond to those expectations, namely by choosing their legislative candidates for the 2024 Election more transparently. This will open up more opportunities for the presence of better legislative candidates and will eventually be a good start in improving the quality of the legislature.
The main requirement to take a good step forward is actually not difficult, as it only requires the awareness and willingness among the party elite to open up more. Because, with the current power of the political parties, the change will occur more quickly and effectively, if it begins from within the party.
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.
