Legislator: Revisions to the Election Law Must Ensure Strong Democratic Quality

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Deputy Chairman of Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR), Aria Bima, underscored that discussions on revising the Election Law must safeguard Indonesia's democratic quality. He made the statement during the Public Hearing held at the Nusantara Building, DPR RI, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday, 10 March 2026.

According to him, any changes to election regulations must be carefully formulated by considering past election evaluations.

As quoted by the website dpr.go.id, during a Public Hearing Meeting (RDPU) of Commission II with constitutional law experts, Aria Bima conveyed that the commission continues to receive input regarding the design and key issues in the implementation of elections. The process of drafting the regulation also needs to involve input from various parties, including democracy activists and the wider public.

In this way, the design of the electoral system that is produced can continue to enhance democratic consolidation while also addressing various problems that arise in the practice of electoral politics.

“We in Commission II hope that the Election Law we formulate will not cause our democracy to move backward. Instead, there must be various breakthrough steps based on evaluations and input from democracy activists and various stakeholders,” Aria Bima conveyed.

In addition, he also assessed that one of the issues that needs careful attention in the discussion of the Election Law revision concerns the parliamentary threshold. He reminded that from the experience, when there was no parliamentary threshold, it reduced the effectiveness of work in the House.

During that period, many small parties had to merge into joint factions, resulting in very limited representation in the House’s committees and other bodies. This weakened the House's legislative, oversight, and budgeting functions, which did not run optimally.

“In the past, when there was no parliamentary threshold, we experienced joint factions with very few members in each commission. Meanwhile, the House now has quite a large number of institutional bodies, so work effectiveness must also be taken into consideration,” the legislator stated.

However, Aria Bima stressed that discussions on the parliamentary threshold must not ignore the principle of representing the people’s vote. He acknowledged that there are public concerns about the potential loss of voter representation if the threshold is set too high.

“We also understand the public’s aspiration not to lose the principle of representation. There are millions of voters whose voices ultimately go unrepresented because their parties fail to pass the parliamentary threshold, so we must find an equilibrium between representation and effectiveness,” he noted.