"Since the beginning, factions in the House of Representatives have accorded priority to deliberations for (reaching a) consensus," the minister stated at the Parliament building here on Friday.
He said the government has opted to maintain provisions that have been implemented optimally and improve those that are not yet sound.
The government is encouraged to implement the new general elections law in the coming 2019 general elections.
"We should not use the old elections law," he added.
The minister said heated deliberations on the new elections law were held, resulting in a legislator or a member of the election law special committee banging on the table.
Despite intense debates, the common objective of the committee members was to build cooperation in order to reach a consensus.
On the occasion, Minister Kumolo said the government was firm in its stand to select the Packet A option of the five option packages on five crucial issues as prepared by the Election Special Committee.
The government opts for Packet A, as it offers a 20-25 percent presidential threshold, which has been successfully implemented in the earlier two general elections.
"The government opted for Packet A since it sets a 20-25 percent presidential threshold requirement, which has been successfully implemented in the earlier two general elections," the minister noted.
Kumolo also explained that the government was aware of the requirement on the parliamentary threshold for political parties to remain in the parliament. It would be better if it is slightly raised from 3.5 percent to four percent.
"The government will laud the readiness of the factions in the House to agree with the proposals on the higher or lower than four percent of the parliamentary threshold," Kumolo remarked.
Speaking in connection with the election system, the minister said the government is proposing a limited open proportional system, but it would be ready to accept the open proportional election system.
With regard to the parliamentary seats in the constituencies, the government supports the same provisions as outlined in the earlier elections law, which is three to 10 seats for the House of Representatives and three to 12 seats for the Regional Legislative Assembly.
On the vote conversion method, Kumolo said the government prefers the pure Sainte Lague method and rejects the Quota Hare method.
With the pure Sainte Lague method, the votes that have been won can be calculated fairly in comparison with the number of seats.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
