Modification Modification of Political Party Law in the Reform of the Electoral System

Abstract

The regulation of political parties in Indonesia is currently fragmented across multiple statutes, creating normative disharmony, weak internal democracy oversight, and inadequate integration between party organizational life and electoral functions. This study examines the forms and problems of this fragmentation and proposes a codification model as a reform agenda for Indonesia’s electoral system. Using normative legal research with statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches, the study analyzes primary and secondary legal materials qualitatively. The findings reveal that party regulations are dispersed across the Political Party Law, Election Law, Regional Election Law, electoral management regulations, and Constitutional Court decisions. This sectoral regulation results in procedural gaps in candidate recruitment, weak enforcement of internal democratic standards, inconsistent dispute resolution, and separated oversight of party financing and campaign funds. To address these challenges, the study offers a layered-integrative and proportional codification model. This model establishes an umbrella law on political parties and party democracy as lex generalis, while the Election Law and Regional Election Law remain as lex specialis. The model incorporates minimum standards for internal democracy, transparent candidacy, integrated financial accountability, independent compliance monitoring, and proportionate sanctions. It also proposes the establishment of a Party Compliance Body and an Integrated Party Compliance System. The codification is expected to strengthen legal certainty, enhance party accountability, improve internal democracy, and support the development of a more integrity-based and representative electoral system. This reform should be completed before the 2029 Election to ensure a more transparent, accountable, and just democratic process.