In 1973, the Soeharto regime implemented a political party fusion that consolidated Indonesia's existing parties into a three-party system: Golkar, PPP (Partai Persatuan Pembangunan), and PDI (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia).
For this debate, “remaining as a big-tent political system” means that Indonesia retains this three-party structure post the 1998 reformation, with each party consisting of members who hold diverse, wide-ranging political views.