Parliamentary Threshold of 4 Percent: To Be Maintained or Reduced?

Debate regarding the size of the parliamentary threshold for legislative elections is ongoing. Several major parties that have entered the House of Representatives reject setting a low threshold. Meanwhile, non-parliamentary parties want the threshold not to be too high, with some supporting its abolition.

The debate on the parliamentary threshold stems from the Constitutional Court’s decision in Case Number 116/PUU-XVIII/2023, which eliminated the 4 percent parliamentary threshold provision in the Election Law. In its legal considerations, the Constitutional Court deemed the provision inconsistent with the principles of popular sovereignty, electoral justice, and legal certainty guaranteed by the constitution.

Currently, the House of Representatives is discussing revisions to the General Election Law. Here are some ideas emerging from various political parties:

Golkar Proposes Parliamentary Threshold of 4-6 Percent

The Golkar Party proposes that the parliamentary threshold for DPR legislative elections be in the range of 4 to 6 percent. Deputy General Chairman of the Golkar Party, Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tandjung, said that this figure is considered an equilibrium point in evaluating the electoral system. “A parliamentary threshold of 4-6 percent is ideal,” Doli said when contacted on Wednesday, 22 April 2026.

Previously, Golkar Party Secretary General Muhammad Sarmuji also proposed a parliamentary threshold of 5 percent. According to him, this figure is a combination of parliamentary and faction thresholds. “A 5 percent figure can create a simple multi-party system,” Sarmuji said via WhatsApp message on Saturday, 28 February 2026.

NasDem Proposes 4-6 Percent

NasDem Party politician Muhammad Rifqinizamy Karyasuda, who is also Chairman of Commission II of the DPR, proposes raising the parliamentary threshold for the 2029 Elections from 4 to 7 percent. NasDem believes this increase will have positive impacts. For example, he said, political parties will automatically be forced to improve themselves and strengthen their structures to gain votes in every contestation.

He understands that the parliamentary threshold causes millions of votes to be wasted due to candidates or parties that fail to pass. However, abolition is also not the answer. “The parliamentary threshold is still needed; it is a necessity to institutionalise political parties,” he stated.

People’s Movement Party

As a new party, the People’s Movement Party pushes for the parliamentary threshold in upcoming general elections to be reduced to zero percent. General Chairman of the People’s Movement Party, Sahrin Hamid, believes that the implementation of the threshold so far has prevented people’s votes from being converted.

However, according to Sahrin, once the people’s right to vote has been exercised, there should be no reason for those votes not to be accumulated. “Therefore, after the presidential threshold of 0 percent, we also push for a parliamentary threshold of 0 percent,” he said at the party’s central board office in South Jakarta on Friday, 27 February 2026.

Labour Party

President of the Labour Party, Said Iqbal, said that raising the threshold above 4 percent must be rejected because it is not in line with what the constitution has desired through the Constitutional Court’s decision.

He said the Constitutional Court’s ruling mandates that lawmakers regulate the parliamentary threshold again, by lowering rather than raising it. “If it is raised above 4, that violates morality, rationality, and is intolerant,” Said stated in a written statement on Thursday, 26 February 2026.

PPP

Being outside the House of Representatives, the United Development Party (PPP) proposes that the parliamentary threshold for the 2029 general elections be abolished or set lower than previously applied. PPP politician Usman Muhammad Tokan, alias Donnie Tokan, said his party hopes the threshold will be below 4 percent or a maximum of 3 percent.

“If it can’t be 0 percent, a maximum of 3 percent is already good enough. So that votes are not wasted,” Donnie said via WhatsApp message on Thursday, 26 February 2026.

PKS

The Prosperous Justice Party does not want any changes to the parliamentary threshold. PKS Secretary General Muhammad Kholid believes that a 4 percent threshold is sufficient, so there is no need to propose an increase or decrease. “4 percent as before is good enough to maintain,” Kholid said in a written statement on Thursday, 26 February 2026.

He explained that if the parliamentary threshold is raised from 4 percent, more votes will be wasted. On the other hand, a significant reduction will trigger an extreme multi-party system.

Gerindra and PDIP Still Studying

As two large parties, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and Gerindra have not yet determined their proposals regarding the parliamentary threshold discourse. Both claim to still be conducting studies.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, said that Gerindra has not yet issued an official stance because it is still conducting internal studies. “The Gerindra Party is currently conducting simulations and studies; of course, we await the results of the party’s study,” said the Gerindra Party’s Daily Chairman at the DPR Complex in Jakarta on Wednesday, 21 January 2026.

CSIS Proposes Lowering Parliamentary Threshold

In response to the debate, Head of the Politics and Social Change Department at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Arya Fernandes, said there is no universal ideal standard for determining the parliamentary threshold size. “It depends on domestic needs,” Arya said on Saturday, 28 February 2026.

In the context of Indonesian electoral politics, he proposes lowering the threshold to 3.5 percent and further to 3 percent in the next election. According to him, 3.5-3 percent is a midpoint between the level of representation and effectiveness.