PDI-P Signals Support for Raising Parliamentary Threshold to Simplify Party System

JAKARTA — PDI-P Central Executive Council Chair Ganjar Pranowo has indicated his party is inclined to support a higher parliamentary threshold (PT) in the revision of the Election Law. He said the move is necessary if Indonesia wants to build a simpler and more effective party system for parliamentary decision-making. “If we look at the current situation, it should head towards a simpler multi-party system if we want to improve things,” Ganjar told reporters on Monday, 1 June 2026. Ganjar said the debate over the PT size should be tied to the goals of Indonesia’s democratic system. If all political parties are given full space to enter parliament, the threshold could be lowered. “When we say ‘in democracy everything is free,’ it will go down. I respect each party’s stance,” he said. However, the former Central Java governor said PT discussions cannot be separated from the future direction of the party system. He urged political parties to communicate and lobby for consensus. Ganjar noted Indonesia has held several elections with similar patterns, but the issue of many parties failing to secure parliamentary seats keeps recurring. He even suggested stricter rules for parties that repeatedly fail to enter parliament, such as mergers after two failures. “We’ve had multiple elections where new parties are accommodated but fail to secure votes, with no penalties for failing to pass, so perhaps after two failures they should be barred from running again and forced to merge,” Ganjar said. However, he acknowledged the idea could spark debate as it may be seen as conflicting with democratic principles that allow all parties.