Constitutional Court ruling confirms 30% female candidate quota not merely administrative
JAKARTA - Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) DPR member Anis Byarwati said the Constitutional Court’s ruling No. 128/PUU-XXIV/2026 confirms that the 30% quota for female legislative candidates is no longer merely an administrative requirement.
The ruling stipulates that the Election Commission at all levels may disqualify political parties failing to meet the minimum 30% female candidate quota.
“This Constitutional Court ruling deserves respect as an effort to strengthen women’s representation in politics. I see the spirit is positive, pushing political parties not to treat the 30% women’s quota as merely an administrative requirement before elections, but as part of a serious and continuous political cadre development process for women,” Anis stated on Thursday, 28 May 2026.
The quality of leadership, capacity, and integrity of women serving as people’s representatives is paramount.
“Democracy requires substantive representation—women with the capability, integrity, and equal opportunity to contribute to public policy decisions,” Anis added.
She stressed the importance of consistent and sustained political cadre development for women.
“The key focus must be ensuring parties have sufficient time and support for continuous women’s cadre development, not just meeting the requirement before candidate registration,” she emphasised.
“Ultimately, the success of this policy should not be measured by the number of parties penalised, but by how effectively political parties produce more qualified and competitive female leaders,” she added.
In the partially granted ruling No. 128/PUU-XXIV/2026, the Constitutional Court added that the Election Commission may disqualify parties not meeting the 30% female candidate quota.
“Given that sanctions for participating political parties have been enforced, to ensure the spirit of Article 28H(2) of the 1945 Constitution is realised in the legislative candidate lists, parties failing to meet the minimum 30% women’s representation quota must face strict sanctions,” Constitutional Court Justice Adies Kadir read the court’s reasoning on Monday, 25 May 2026.
Adies explained this clarification is necessary to realise the principle of people’s sovereignty in fair electoral competition.
“Thus, the regulation on candidate lists requiring at least 30% women’s representation under Article 245 of Law No. 7 of 2017 must be interpreted with sanctions for political parties to be disqualified if they fail to meet the requirement, as stated in the court’s ruling,” Adies said.