PAN Objects to Parliamentary Threshold Rising Above 4%, Citing Constitutional Court Ruling

PAN has expressed its objection if the parliamentary threshold (PT) is increased beyond 4% or raised to 5%. PAN considers that such an increase has the potential to contradict the Constitutional Court (MK) ruling regarding the parliamentary threshold.

PAN Deputy Chairperson Viva Yoga Mauladi stated that this stance is not because PAN fears failing to enter parliament. He noted that PAN has consistently secured seats in Senayan from the 1999 to 2024 elections.

“PAN objects if the parliamentary threshold (PT) rises above 4%. PAN’s stance is not due to fear of failing to secure seats in the DPR RI, as PAN has proven to consistently pass to Senayan from the 1999 to 2024 elections,” Viva Yoga told reporters on Thursday (17/9/2026).

“For PAN, if there is another increase in the PT value, it will tend to contradict Constitutional Court Decision Number 116/PUU-XXI/2023 regarding the PT,” he added.

Viva stated that the Constitutional Court ruling provides a conditional constitutional mandate to lawmakers to amend the threshold rules before the 2029 Election. According to him, lawmakers do have the space to regulate the threshold amount as it is an open legal policy. However, that space remains limited by the constitutional principles established by the Court.

“The Court requires that such changes be made while considering important aspects, namely political representation, proportionality, popular sovereignty, electoral fairness, ensuring that many valid votes are not wasted or fail to be converted into seats, and the rational simplification of political parties,” he explained.

Viva assessed that the higher the threshold, the greater the tendency for valid votes to fail to be converted into DPR seats. This condition, he noted, could worsen if many participating parties fail to meet the threshold.

“In electoral theory, a higher PT leads to a tendency for valid votes to not be converted into seats. This is exacerbated if more participating parties fail to meet the PT, which will increase the amount of valid votes that are wasted because they cannot be converted into seats,” he elaborated.

“From this condition, it will cause the election to have a high level of disproportionality, thereby lowering the value of democratic representation,” he continued.

Viva also referenced Constitutional Court Decision Number 45/PUU-XXII/2024. In that ruling, the Court stated that determining the threshold without adequate methods and arguments can lead to disproportionality between the national valid vote and the number of seats.

“In the 2024 legislative election, with a 4% PT, the national valid votes that could not be converted into seats amounted to 17,304,303 (11.4%). Similarly, in the 2019 Legislative Election, it was 13,594,842 (9.71%), and for the 2014 Legislative Election, it was 2,964,975 (2.37%),” he explained.

Nevertheless, Viva said there is no specific figure that can be called ideal for the parliamentary threshold. He believes the most important thing is that any change to the threshold maintains the proportionality of the proportional election system.

“What is the ideal PT value? There is no ideal value for the PT. The important thing is that the Court mandates changes to the PT on the condition that they remain within the framework of maintaining the proportionality of the proportional election system, especially to prevent a large number of votes from being unable to be converted into DPR seats,” he said.

“The idea of simplifying political parties in the DPR must not clash with the necessity of maintaining the principle of proportionality in election results. The PT must not be raised solely to produce fewer parties in the DPR if the consequence is increased disproportionality and a higher number of unconverted valid votes,” he added.

Meanwhile, PAN Deputy Chairperson Eddy Soeparno stated that discussions regarding the parliamentary threshold must be conducted through consensus among political party leaders. He mentioned that PAN has not yet determined a definitive figure regarding the threshold size.

“We want the discussion to be carried out through consensus; ideally, the consensus is unanimous. Whether there is an increase, a decrease, or anything else, it should be discussed through deliberation and consensus among political party colleagues,” said Eddy at the DPR building, Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (17/9/2026).

Eddy said the issue of votes potentially not being converted into seats would also be discussed together. He noted that regardless of the threshold size, it needs to be placed within the discussion regarding the overall quality of the election.

“The issue of wasted votes will also be discussed together, but the most important thing is how we can achieve a high-quality election. In the sense that whether the PT is 3 percent, 4 percent, 5 percent, or whatever the figure is, we must not forget that we are seeking a quality election,” he said.

Previously, several chairpersons of political parties in the government coalition met. In that meeting, they discussed the revision of the Election Law (RUU Pemilu), which also regulates the parliamentary threshold (PT).

The meeting of the government coalition party chairpersons was confirmed directly by Gerindra Party Secretary-General Sugiono. In his explanation, Sugiono stated that the party chairpersons met recently.

“Yes, so recently several party chairpersons gathered. Gerindra was represented at that time by Mr. Dasco, acting as the daily chairman, to discuss matters that need to be discussed regarding the election law,” Sugiono told reporters at the DPR building, parliament complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday (16/9).

Sugiono stated that an agreement was reached regarding the parliamentary threshold. He said his party, led by President Prabowo Subianto, agreed to a parliamentary threshold of 5%.

“But one thing that seems everyone agrees on—though I cannot speak on behalf of the party—is…”