Commission II of DPR Struggles to Translate 22 Constitutional Court Rulings in Election Bill

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Deputy Chairperson of Commission II of the House of Representatives, Dede Yusuf Macan Effendi, revealed that his team is facing difficulties in translating the Constitutional Court's (MK) decisions in the revision of Law No. 7 of 2017 on Elections.

Moreover, there are 22 MK decisions related to election matters that must be accommodated within the framework of the new election law.

"There are 22 MK decisions that we are reviewing and we have encountered several challenges in translating these decisions when linked to future Election Laws," Dede said during a public hearing session (RDPU) on the drafting of the Election Bill, as quoted from a TVR Parliament YouTube broadcast on Wednesday (11/11/2026).

He explained that many of the MK decisions intersect with other laws outside the Election Law.

Some of these include Law No. 23 of 2014 on Regional Government, Law No. 10 of 2016 on Local Elections, and Law No. 2 of 2011 on Political Parties.

"Therefore, we are trying to facilitate what we call meaningful participation together with civil society, as well as academics, to explore ideas and options concerning various issues," Dede added.

Additionally, other critical issues in the Election Bill, such as the parliamentary threshold, presidential threshold, and the separation of national and regional elections, must receive attention.

"Once again, we greatly need input from professors and academics regarding concepts that can be aligned for the betterment of future Election Laws," said the Democratic Party politician.

MK Decisions Related to Elections

According to a summary from Kompas.com, here are some of the MK decisions related to the elections that have been mandated to take effect starting in the 2029 Elections:

Elimination of 20 Percent Presidential Threshold

One of them is the MK's Decision No. 62/PUU-XXII/2024 regarding the elimination of the presidential candidacy threshold or presidential threshold, which was previously set at 20 percent.

The elimination of the 20 percent presidential threshold was intended by the MK to guarantee equal political rights and sovereignty for all political parties participating in the elections.

ANTARA FOTO/WAHYU PUTRO A Illustration of a repeat vote (PSU). Election illustration.

Change to Parliamentary Threshold

Second, the MK through Decision No. 116/PUU-XXI/2023 has provided five prerequisites for determining the parliamentary threshold for the 2029 Elections.

On Thursday (29/2/2023), the MK partially granted a lawsuit concerning the parliamentary threshold of 4 percent against Article 414, paragraph (1) of Law No. 7 of 2017 on Elections.

At least five prerequisite points set by the MK include:

1. Designed for sustainable use;
2. Changes to the parliamentary threshold norms, including the amount or percentage, should maintain proportionality in the proportional election system, especially to prevent a large number of votes that cannot be converted into DPR seats;
3. Changes should facilitate the simplification of political parties;
4. Changes must be completed before the commencement of the 2029 Election stages;
5. Changes must involve all stakeholders interested in the conduct of elections by applying meaningful public participation, including involving political parties participating in the elections that do not have representation in the DPR.

In other words, the MK stated that the 4 percent parliamentary threshold must be changed before the 2029 Elections.

Separation of National and Regional Elections

Third, the MK also decided that national elections would be separated from local elections starting in 2029. This is outlined in Decision No. 135/PUU-XXII/2024.

This means that national elections will only be aimed at electing members of the DPR, DPD, and the president/vice president, while local elections will be aimed at electing members of the provincial to district/city DPRD, which will be held concurrently with local elections.

In legal considerations, the MK proposed that the legislative elections (Pileg) held in conjunction with local elections should be conducted at the earliest two years after the inauguration of the president/vice president. Or at the latest, two years and six months after their inauguration.

Women’s Representation in the DPR

Fourth, the MK subsequently issued a decision regulating minimum women's representation of 30 percent in several council structures (AKD) of the DPR.

In Decision No. 169/PUU-XXII/2024, the MK stipulated that every AKD, from commissions, the Deliberative Body (Bamus), special committees (Pansus), the Legislative Body (Baleg), the Budget Body (Banggar), the Inter-Parliament Cooperation Body (BKSAP), the House Honorary Council (MKD), to the Household Affairs Body (BURT), must have women’s representation.

Sanctions for Political Parties in Elections

Fifth, the MK regulated sanctions for political parties that do not meet the minimum quota of 30 percent women's representation in the submission of candidacies for DPR, provincial DPRD, and district/city DPRD members in elections.

In MK Decision No. 128/PUU-XXIV/2026, which was partially granted, the Court added a provision that the KPU at every level may dismiss political parties that do not meet the minimum requirement of 30 percent for women candidates.

"As regarding the sanctions for political parties participating in the elections, it has already been factually implemented, so to ensure that the spirit of Article 28H, paragraph 2 of the 1945 Constitution is genuinely realized in filling out the candidate list for DPR/DPRD members, political parties that do not meet the 30 percent quota for women representation must be given strict sanctions," said MK Judge Adies Kadir while reading the Court’s considerations on Monday (25/5/2026).

KOMPAS.com Collage of political parties participating in the 2024 Elections.

Adies explained that this clarification is necessary to realize the principle of people's sovereignty in a fair electoral contest.

Especially, in efforts to reduce discrimination against the number of women’s representation in the DPR/DPRD.

"Thus, the regulations concerning the candidate list that includes a minimum of 30 percent women representation in the norms of Article 245 of Law 7/2017 must be interpreted and supplemented with sanctions for political parties participating in the elections to be excluded or dismissed. This way they do not participate in the electoral contest in electoral districts that do not meet the aforementioned requirements as stipulated in the verdict of the relevant decision," stated Adies.