Experts: Constitutional Court ruling strengthens affirmative action, prevents parties from manipulating women's quota

The Constitutional Court’s ruling reinforcing disqualification penalties for political parties failing to meet the 30% women’s representation quota is seen as strengthening affirmative action for women while closing loopholes for violations by parties or election organisers.

University of Indonesia electoral law expert Titi Anggraini said the ruling is a crucial step to ensure women’s representation is no longer treated as a mere administrative formality in elections.

“This ruling is a significant step to strengthen affirmative action for women in elections,” Titi told Media Indonesia on Monday (25 May).

According to Titi, the ruling could mark a turning point for parties to take candidate development, recruitment, and placement of female candidates seriously from the outset, rather than just meeting administrative requirements at the last minute.

“This ruling can be a turning point by urging political parties to seriously develop, recruit, and place female candidates from the beginning,” she said.

She noted that the 30% women’s quota had often been viewed as an administrative requirement without strict consequences for violations. The disqualification penalty in the ruling thus reinforces that women’s representation affirmative action is a constitutional obligation that election participants must comply with.

“With the disqualification penalty, the Constitutional Court has made it clear that women’s representation affirmative action is not merely a moral appeal or optional policy, but a constitutional duty,” Titi said.

Titi also highlighted that the 2024 election was still rife with violations of the women’s quota.

“In the 2024 election, the General Election Commission (KPU) brutally violated the requirement for at least 30% women’s representation, resulting in hundreds of candidate lists in DPR electoral districts failing to meet the minimum 30% women’s quota,” she said.

Based on this, she believes the current ruling clarifies that the 30% requirement is mandatory with clear legal consequences.

“Thus, political parties can no longer view fulfilling the women’s quota as a negotiable or administratively circumventable obligation,” she added.

Previously, the Constitutional Court stated that political parties failing to meet the minimum 30% women’s representation quota in DPR and regional legislature candidacies could be disqualified in the relevant electoral districts. The ruling was delivered during a plenary session of case number 128/PUU-XXIV/2026 at the Constitutional Court building in Jakarta on Monday (25 May).

MK Chairman Suhartoyo stated that KPU at all levels must disqualify political parties failing to meet the 30% women’s quota.

“If the minimum 30% women’s representation requirement is not met, the KPU, Provincial KPU, and District/City KPU must disqualify or exclude the political party from the relevant electoral district,” Suhartoyo said.

The Court also confirmed the 30% women’s quota is mandatory, not voluntary. Justice Guntur Hamzah explained that the rule was initially facultative in the 2003 Election Law using the word “can”, but became mandatory from the 2009 election onwards.

Meanwhile, Justice Adies Kadir said strict penalties are needed because there were previously no clear consequences for parties ignoring the women’s quota.

Additionally, the Court ruled that when calculating the women’s quota, fractions must be rounded up. The Court views the women’s quota policy as a constitutionally permitted affirmative action to address the persistent underrepresentation of women in the DPR and regional legislatures, which has yet to meet the 30% target. (H-2)

NasDem politician Amelia Anggraini said the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the 30% women’s representation is a milestone for improving political party candidate development.

Strict penalties are essential to ensure the spirit of Article 28H paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution is genuinely realised, not just a paper formalality.

The women’s quota policy is a form of affirmative action — a special treatment legally permitted under the constitution.