Feeling lucky? KPU to use draws to assign House seats

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has allowed lady luck to play a role in determining the country’s legislative council members.

Although the possibility looks very slim, a draw will decide which legislative candidates secure the coveted seats, according to the latest KPU regulation now being publicized — and contested.

“The draw will be held merely for practical reasons. We don’t need to spend much energy regarding the distribution of legislative seats,” KPU member I Gusti Putu Artha said Thursday.

Article 25 of KPU Regulation No. 15/2009 dated March 16 says a draw will be held if there is one legislative seat left in an electoral district up for grabs by two or more parties with the same number of votes.

“The chance for a draw is extremely slim, since it's unlikely two or more parties will have an identical number of votes,” Putu said.

Only parties that meet the parliamentary threshold of 2.5 percent of valid votes nationwide will secure legislative seats, according to the election law.

The KPU regulation stipulates three steps for determining legislative seat winners.

The KPU will first award seats to parties that fulfill the vote division number, which is calculated by dividing the number of votes by the number of legislative seats at stake in an electoral district. The seats will go directly to those who win the most votes within a party.

In case there are leftover seats, the KPU will distribute the seats to parties that meet at least 50 percent of the vote division number.

The 2008 legislative elections law previously stipulated that seats be distributed under the hierarchical system, allowing party leaders to handpick close supporters for seats.

Major parties have strongly criticized the draw and called on the KPU to drop the controversial new regulation for fear it could trigger conflict among parties.

“It really doesn't make sense; the parties and candidates work hard to win seats, but the winner will be determined through a draw?” Arief Wibowo, deputy head of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) campaign team told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

He proposed the KPU take into account the geographical distribution of votes won by each party, rather than resort to a draw.

The Golkar Party's deputy secretary agreed, adding the KPU "lacked knowledge" in organizing the polls.

“It is the right of the people to determine the winning parties; that’s what they vote for. Holding a draw goes against the people’s aspirations,” he said.

The KPU will announce the list of winning candidates for municipal and regency legislatures on April 21, for provincial legislatures on April 24, and for the House of Representatives and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) on May 9.