The Presidential Candidacy Threshold in Indonesia and Its Implications

Abstract

The Presidential Election System in Indonesia is equipped with a unique mechanism that is not applicable in many other countries, namely the presidential nomination threshold by political parties or popularly known as the "Presidential Threshold". According to the Election Law, political parties need to have a minimum of twenty per cent of the Legislative House seats or twenty-five per cent of the votes cast in the most recent legislative member elections. Since this system was unconstitutional, it raised controversies because it limited the rights of established political parties and prevented new political parties from nominating presidential candidates. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the application of the Presidential Threshold process and its implications for the Indonesian general elections. This research is normative in nature. Three different approaches—the conceptual, legislative, and comparative ones—are employed. Legal primary and secondary sources of information were employed. A literature review was conducted to obtain data. Analysis of the data or legal materials is carried out by analytical prescriptive. The study concludes that raising the bar for presidential nominations results in several implications, including restricting political parties' ability to nominate candidates; weakening the essence of people's sovereignty; and contradicting the notions of justice and the presidential system. Because it does not pertain to the clauses outlined in the Republic of Indonesia's constitution, the regulation of the presidential nomination threshold in the Election Law should be deleted.