Reject PT 7 Percent, the Labor Party is Ready to Sue the Constitutional Court

JAKARTA - The Labor Party reiterated its rejection of the discourse on raising the parliamentary threshold (PT) to 7 percent. The President of the Labor Party, Said Iqbal, said there were three crucial factors that must be considered seriously by the law makers before revising the rules.

According to Said, the issue of the parliamentary threshold is a central agenda in the People's Voice Sovereignty Movement (GKSR) which is followed by eight non-parliamentary parties, including the Labor Party. He assessed that the plan to raise the PT above 4 percent has the potential to be in conflict with the constitution and the spirit of democracy.

The first factor, said Said, was the Constitutional Court Decision Number 116/PUU-XXI/2023. He explained, the decision requires the law-makers to change the norms and amounts of PT in Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections. However, the changes must still pay attention to the political rights of citizens, the sovereignty of the people, and the principle of rationality.

Said interpreted the ruling as leading to a decrease in the threshold figure, not an increase. "If it is raised above 4 percent, it violates morality, rationality, and justice. The Constitutional Court will definitely cancel such rules. The Labor Party will also sue," he said in Jakarta, Thursday, February 26.

The second factor is the high number of valid votes that are wasted due to the implementation of PT above 4 percent. Based on the Labor Party's internal data, in the 2019 election more than 57.1 million valid votes were not converted into parliamentary seats. In the 2024 election, the number is said to reach around 60.6 million valid votes.

The average of the unrepresentative votes, according to Said, reached more than 40 percent. He questioned the quality of democracy if tens of millions of people's votes continue to not get representation in parliament due to the threshold rule. "What kind of democracy are we building if the voter's voice is always wasted?" he said.

The third factor relates to the PT calculation method, which is currently based on the acquisition of valid votes of political parties nationally. Said assessed that this approach is not in line with a number of Constitutional Court rulings that emphasize the importance of the electoral district (dapil) in the electoral system.

He referred to several decisions, including Number 19/PUU-XVII/2019, Number 20/PUU-XVII/2019, Number 28/PUU-XXII/2024, and Number 137/PUU-XXII/2024, which he said confirmed that dapil was a fundamental element in the regulation of elections.

"Regarding this, if the threshold rule is still in effect, the calculation basis should refer to the party's vote acquisition in each district, not the national vote aggregate. PT must be associated with the district," said Said.

With these three considerations, the Labor Party ensures that it will take the constitutional path if the proposal to increase the parliamentary threshold to 7 percent is still passed. This discourse is expected to be one of the most crucial political issues in the discussion of the revision of the Election Law in the future.