Constitutional Court Rejects Parliamentary Threshold Test, Application Deemed Premature Pending DPR Revision
The Constitutional Court (MK) has rejected a petition for judicial review concerning the parliamentary threshold provisions in the Electoral Law. The Court determined that the lawsuit was premature because the DPR and Government are currently in the process of revising the regulations as mandated by a previous MK decision.
During the reading of Decision Number 37/PUU-XXIV/2026 held on Monday, 2 March, Constitutional Court Chief Suhartoyo stated that the petition could not be accepted.
“The ruling, having considered the case, declares that Petition Number 37/PUU-XXIV/2026 cannot be accepted,” Suhartoyo stated in the Constitutional Court’s Plenary Hearing Room in Jakarta.
In its legal reasoning, Deputy Chief of the Constitutional Court Saldi Isra explained that when the petition was filed, there had been no amendment to Article 414 paragraph (1) of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections. However, this provision had previously been declared conditionally constitutional through Constitutional Court Decision Number 116/PUU-XXI/2023, which instructed the legislature to make changes.
“As long as the legislature remains in the process of fulfilling its constitutional obligation to revise the said article norm in implementation of Constitutional Court Decision Number 116/PUU-XXI/2023, the scope for testing the said article norm has not yet opened,” said Saldi.
He stressed, “Petition Number 37/PUU-XXIV/2026 is premature.”
The petition was filed by Kawal Pemilu and Demokrasi Indonesia, represented by Chairman Miftahol Arifin and Secretary General Abd. Adim.
Through their legal counsel, Sipghotulloh Mujaddidi, the petitioners contended there existed legal uncertainty due to the absence of a maximum limit on the parliamentary threshold following Constitutional Court Decision Number 116/PUU-XXI/2023 issued on 29 February 2024.
“This legal uncertainty relates to the absence of a maximum limit in determining the parliamentary threshold amount by the legislature,” stated Sipghotulloh during petition revision proceedings on Wednesday, 11 February.
Article 414 paragraph (1) of the Electoral Law provides that political parties participating in elections must meet a threshold of at least 4 per cent of the total national valid votes to be included in determining the allocation of seats for DPR members.
In Decision Number 116/PUU-XXI/2023, the Constitutional Court declared this provision constitutional insofar as it remains applicable for the 2024 DPR elections and conditionally constitutional for the 2029 DPR elections onwards, provided that the parliamentary threshold norm and its percentage are modified in accordance with guidelines established by the Court.
However, the petitioners argued that the decision did not establish a maximum limit for a constitutional parliamentary threshold. They expressed concern that the legislature possessed excessive latitude to increase the threshold, with parliamentary discussions proposing the threshold remain at 4 per cent or be raised to 5, 7, or even 8 per cent.
According to the petitioners, the parliamentary threshold should not exceed 2.5 per cent. In their petition, they requested the Constitutional Court declare Article 414 paragraph (1) of the Electoral Law as interpreted in Constitutional Court Decision Number 116/PUU-XXI/2023 to remain conditionally constitutional for the 2029 DPR elections onwards, provided the threshold does not exceed 2.5 per cent and complies with the conditions previously established.