Regarding The 2024 Election System Lawsuit For Parties, PAN Asks Constitutional Court Judges To Consider Public Voice

Illustration of General Elections (Pemilu) simultaneously in 2024 which includes the Presidential Election (Pilpres) and the Legislatig Election (Pileg). (Between)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the PAN faction of the DPR, Saleh Partaonan Daulay, asked the Constitutional Court (MK) to consider public votes in processing the trial of the lawsuit Article 168 paragraph (2) of Law (UU) Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections related to changes in the upcoming election system to vote for the party. According to him, public votes cannot be ignored just like that.

"The judges of the Constitutional Court have certainly read it. They are believed to know the arguments presented and of course moral and reasonable considerations are considered more appropriate to implement an open system," Saleh said in a written statement, Thursday, January 12.

He explained that the percentage of people who agreed to keep elections held in an open proportional system or directly voting for legislative candidates was the same as the number of political parties (political parties) in the DPR.

"Right now, there are eight parties that still want to use open proportional. Well, that's a very majority. That's about the percentage of people who support the open system," he said.

Saleh said that the majority of the community, both experts and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) still support an open proportional system. According to him, these NGOs are independent institutions and do not affiliate with any political forces.

He added that views, arguments, and thoughts related to open proportional system support were also widely conveyed in various media.

"NGOs and pro-democracy activists have implemented FGD (focus group discussions), discussions, and seminars. In fact, some deliberately hold press conferences to express their opinions about the importance of maintaining an open system," he said.

Saleh believes that participation, equality, and justice can only be realized through an open proportional system in elections as directed by democracy itself.

"Terbukti, selama ini masyarakat selalu merasa ikut 'bersengal' dalam setiap pemilu yang dilaksanakan," tandasnya.

To note, the eight DPR factions expressed their rejection of the closed proportional electoral system or voting for parties, not legislative candidates at the election booth. The eight parties are the Golkar Party, PKB, Democratic Party, PPP, NasDem Party, PAN, and PKS; while the PDI-P is the only party that supports the implementation of a closed proportional election system.