Closed-List Proportional Representation System V. Open-List Proportional Representation System: Expert Opinions

Legal Literacy - This article discusses the closed-list proportional representation system and the open-list proportional representation system. System changes in the context of a constitutional democratic state play a crucial role in ensuring the protection and sustainable progress of democratic principles. If these changes support the democratic process, they will consolidate the stability of the democratic system as a whole. However, it is important that these changes are carried out through an open, inclusive, and participatory process, respecting constitutional principles and democratic values. In this case, the change needed is a transition from an open proportional electoral system to a closed proportional electoral system. This aims to maintain the continuity of the function and development of democracy constitutional.

Fritz Edward Siregar's Views at the Election Law Judicial Review Hearing

At the judicial review hearing of the General Election Law (UU Pemilu) Number 7 of 2017, Fritz Edward Siregar, an expert in constitutional law from Sekolah Tinggi Hukum Indonesia Jentera, presented his views. Held in the Plenary Session Room of the Constitutional Court on Wednesday (5/4/2023), the hearing was related to Case Number 114/PUU-XX/2022. In this hearing, Fritz was one of two experts invited by the applicant. Fritz, who served as a member of the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) in the 2017-2022 period, explained the complexities of the vote collection, counting, and recapitulation process. He highlighted the intricacies and potential errors in voting, which require voters to choose candidates from a list of names. This can result in invalid votes. In the 2019 General Election, as many as 17,503,953 votes were considered invalid, or about 11.12% of the total votes. Fritz also observed that the vote counting process was time-consuming due to the use of an open proportional system that requires recording the candidate or party number in the correct column. Fritz highlighted the potential for manipulation in vote counting, particularly regarding the recording of candidate or party names. In addition, he noted the phenomenon of vote shifting between candidates within a party at the Polling Station (TPS) during the vote recapitulation process.

The Challenge of Money Politics and Fritz's Views on the Election System

Fritz also revealed that money politics is a serious problem in elections. In the 2019 General Election, there were 69 court decisions related to criminal violations related to money politics. Many literatures, both from within and outside the country, explain the negative impact of money politics on the election process. Fritz believes that to overcome the practice of money politics, changing the election system to a closed proportional system is an effective step. In a meeting with the Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Saldi Isra, and seven other Constitutional Justices, Fritz expressed his views.

Agus Riewanto's Opinion and Justification for Changes to the Election System

Agus Riewanto, a lecturer constitutional law from the Faculty of Law, Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta, gave his views in an online trial. According to Agus, the open proportional election system, which determines elected candidates based on the most votes, is not in line with the constitution and can be considered unconstitutional. He argued that this system degrades the role of political parties in the context of a democratic state. Agus acknowledged that the open proportional election system has an impact on politics that is more focused on individuals or candidates. This encourages voters to choose popular and wealthy candidates, ignoring the political parties they represent. He emphasized that the serial number of legislative candidates does not guarantee the election of the legislative candidates in the election. Agus criticized the open proportional election system for encouraging political parties to compete in recruiting popular and wealthy legislative candidates without considering ideology and party structure. This results in elected legislative candidates representing themselves more than the political parties they represent.

Supporting Changes to the Election System for a More Stable Democracy

Overall, the shift from an open proportional representation electoral system to a closed proportional representation electoral system is an effort to improve and enhance the principles of democracy in a constitutional democracy. Opinions from legal experts such as Fritz Edward Siregar and Agus Riewanto support the justification for this change with the aim of addressing challenges such as money politics, weaknesses of political parties, and the selection of candidates that is more focused on figures than political parties themselves. The hearing on the Election Law and the considerations of these experts reflect an effort to create a more effective, transparent, and democratic and constitutional electoral system.