Permanent Political Coalition Considered Necessary After The Elimination Of The Presidential Threshold

MK/DOK ANTARA Building

JAKARTA - Political Science expert at Jenderal Sudirman University (Unsoed) Luthfi Makhasin sees that a permanent political coalition is needed after the abolition of the presidential and vice presidential nomination limits (presidential threshold).

"It seems that we need a more permanent political coalition model so that it is clear who is in power and the opposition. If it is like now, the coalition will be very fluid when the presidential and vice presidential candidates he carries lose, immediately the boy will be busy supporting the winner," said Luthfi as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, January 6.

He believes that simplification of political parties is also still necessary, as well as hoping that the abolition of the presidential threshold by the Constitutional Court (MK) through Decision Number 62/PUU-XXII/2024 will make this happen.

"With this Constitutional Court decision, simplification of the party can also be a natural way so that the candidacy in the presidential election is also simpler," he said.

The Constitutional Court's decision to regulate the elimination of the presidential threshold, he said, was welcomed by pro-democracy activists because the aspiration to improve the procedural democracy had been fulfilled.

"Without a presidential threshold limit, all political parties have the same opportunity to propose pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates," he said.

However, he reminded related parties to continue to pay attention to the phenomenon of money politics so that the procedural improvement of democracy remains guaranteed so that it continues to improve the quality of democracy in the country.

Previously, on Thursday (2/1), the Constitutional Court decided to abolish the presidential threshold in Article 222 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections because it contradicts the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

The Constitutional Court views the presidential threshold as regulated in Article 222 of Law Number 7 of 2017 closing and eliminating the constitutional rights of political parties participating in elections that do not have a percentage of valid votes nationally or the percentage of seats in the DPR in the previous election to propose pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Furthermore, the Constitutional Court learns the direction of Indonesia's political movement tends to always strive for every presidential and vice presidential election to only be followed by two pairs of candidates.

According to the Constitutional Court, this condition makes people easily trapped in polarization that threatens the integrity of Indonesia if it is not anticipated.

The Constitutional Court stated that the presidential threshold determined in Article 222 of Law Number 7 of 2017 is not only against the political rights and sovereignty of the people, but also violates morality, rationality, and intolerable injustice.