Democrat Party Responds to KPK: Term Limits for Party Leaders Are Internal Party Matters

The Democrat Party has responded to the KPK’s recommendations on political party governance, one of which involves limiting the term of a party’s general chairman (ketum) to a maximum of two periods. Democrat Party Secretary-General Herman Khaeron stated that the government does not need to regulate the term of a party’s general chairman. “The term of the party’s general chairman is regulated by the party’s internal rules. Therefore, the government does not need to impose limits on the term of the general chairman or any other title,” Herman told reporters on Friday (24/4/2026). Herman explained that the mechanisms and implementation of party organisation are internal party matters. As such, he said, it is the party cadres who determine them. Furthermore, this member of the DPR’s Commission VI assessed that limiting the term of the general chairman does not automatically guarantee the implementation of democracy within the party. According to him, what the government should focus on is the mechanisms carried out by the party in determining the general chairman. “Democracy within the party is not determined by limitations, but by the congress mechanism or other mechanisms for determining the general chairman in each party. As long as the cadres who hold the votes give their support and trust to the General Chairman, that is the democratic process,” said Herman. For context, the KPK has conducted a study on political party governance to prevent corruption. One of them is the KPK’s proposal for a limit on the leadership term of a party’s general chairman to two periods. This study was conducted by the KPK in 2025 through the Monitoring Directorate. The KPK identified four points that need to be addressed in Indonesia’s political party system and provided 16 recommendations. “To ensure the smooth running of cadre development, there needs to be a regulation limiting the leadership of the party’s general chairman to a maximum of 2 periods of tenure,” states one of the recommendations in the KPK’s study results, on Thursday (23/4).