FISIP UB Proposes 3.5 Per Cent Parliamentary Threshold for 2029 Election

Malang, East Java (ANTARA) - The Parliamentary Threshold Research Team from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Brawijaya University (FISIP UB) has recommended a parliamentary threshold of 3.5 per cent to be implemented in the 2029 General Election.

The Chairman of the FISIP UB Parliamentary Threshold Research Team, Wawan Sobari, stated in Malang, East Java, on Monday, that the 3.5 per cent figure is recommended as a short-term option to balance voter representation with the number of political parties in parliament.

“Therefore, we are recommending two figures for the PT (Parliamentary Threshold); first, for the 202<0xE2><0x80><0x89>9 Election, we propose 3.5 per cent as a short-term measure,” said Wawan following the presentation of the 2029 Parliamentary Threshold National Survey Research at FISIP UB.

Meanwhile, for the medium term, covering the 2034 to 2039 elections, the team recommends a parliamentary threshold of 2.5 per cent.

This recommendation, he noted, is intended to balance the number of political parties that qualify for the House of Representatives (DPR RI) while simultaneously reducing the percentage of voter votes that cannot be converted into parliamentary seats.

Based on simulations using the 2024 Election results, implementing a 2.5 per cent threshold would allow 10 political parties to enter the DPR RI, with unrepresented votes amounting to 4.72 per cent. If a 3.5 per cent threshold is used, nine political parties would qualify, with unrepresented votes amounting to 7.53 per cent.

“The argument from FISIP is to balance voter sovereignty, meaning that a good election is one that provides sovereignty to the voters. Furthermore, it aims to reduce unrepresented votes, in the sense that the chosen party loses,” he said.

Wawan added that implementing a parliamentary threshold of either 2.5 per cent or 3.5 per cent would also create greater opportunities for non-parliamentary political parties to secure seats in the DPR RI.

“That is why our research argument focuses on fairness and voter sovereignty, ensuring that when they vote, they feel their voices are truly represented in the DPR, even though representation is not determined by the PT factor alone,” he said.

The national survey was conducted from 5–12 June 2026, involving 1,230 respondents out of a target of 1,240 respondents spread across 38 provinces. The sampling was conducted using a multistage random sampling method with a margin of error of approximately 2.9 per cent at a 95 per cent confidence level.