Academics: Closed Proportional Systems For The 2024 Elections Lengthens The Oligarchy

Illustration of the 2024 General Election. (Irfan M-VOI)

JAKARTA - Academician at Djuanda Aep Saepudin Muhtar University assessed that a closed proportional system if implemented in the 2024 General Election has the potential to perpetuate the oligarchy.

"This system has the potential for abuse of power by the party elite," he said in a discussion entitled "Student Movement Transformation Towards Indonesian Gold in 2045" in Bogor Regency, West Java, Sunday, January 8, was confiscated by Antara.

According to him, a closed proportional system will also cause non-maximizing legislative candidates in carrying out electoral work in garnering votes in the 2024 General Election.

According to him, a closed proportional system will also weaken the role of political parties, as party machines only work alone without the support of legislative candidates.

"This of course has an impact on the party machine which only runs alone without the encouragement and support of candidates who have high electability in the community," said Aep in the seminar which was initiated by the West Se-Bogor BEM Alliance.

Meanwhile, the Coordinator of BEM Se-Bogor Barat, M Aminullah, said that his party rejected a closed proportional system because it was considered to be able to injure democratic values.

"Because it is contrary to article 1 paragraph 2 concerning sovereignty and article 22e concerning elections," he said.

According to him, a closed proportional system can seize people's sovereignty because it cannot determine who deserves to be able to sit on the parliamentary bench, and is considered to restrict the public from participating in the election contestation.

"The party is a facilitator, not an executor, our West Bogor BEM alliance will always open discussion forums to find the best solution for what system is used in the 2024 election," he said.

As is known, as many as six people, namely Demas Brian Wicaksono (applicants I), Yuwono Pintadi (applicants II), Fahrurrozi (applicants III), Ibnu Rachman Jaya (applicants IV), Riyanto (applicants V), and Nono Marijono (applicants VI) submitted a judicial review of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections related to an open proportional system to the Constitutional Court (MK).

The application is registered with Case Number 114/PUU-XX/2022.

If the judicial review lawsuit is granted by the Constitutional Court, the 2024 Election system will change to a closed proportional system, where with this closed system the voters are only presented the logo of the political party in the ballot, not the name of the party cadre who participates in the legislative election.