Petitioners for 30 Percent Women's Quota Sued at Constitutional Court: Political Parties Could Be Directly Disqualified
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The trial of the material examination of Article 245 of the Election Law at the Constitutional Court highlighted the absence of sanctions for violations of the minimum 30 percent women’s representation quota in the nomination of DPR, provincial DPRD, and regency/city DPRD members.
In the hearing of Case Number 128/PUU-XXIV/2026, the petitioners assessed that the provision is ineffective because it still opens the door for political parties to submit candidate lists without meeting the women’s representation threshold.
The petitioners, consisting of Maya Novita Sari, Imas Dion Febriani, Cahya Camila Evanglin, and Fatati Nailul Munadia, stated that the current rules are merely administrative without firm consequences.
“It even only provides administrative recommendations without disqualification sanctions,” said Maya Novita Sari during the hearing on Wednesday (15/4/2026).
She gave examples of several electoral districts such as Trenggalek 2 as well as Tulungagung 1 and 6, where there are parties that only nominated one male candidate, making it mathematically impossible to meet the 30 percent women’s quota, yet it was still accepted.
The hearing was led by Constitutional Court Justice Enny Nurbaningsih with panel members Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani.
Sociologically, the large number of female voters is not yet proportional to representation in legislative institutions.
Meanwhile, juridically, the provision constitutes a constitutional guarantee of the principles of equality and non-discrimination.
However, she assessed that the absence of sanctions makes the rule ineffective.
“Therefore, Article 245 of Law 7/2017 must be interpreted in such a way that violations of the women’s quota obligation carry clear and firm legal consequences, including the possibility of disqualifying the candidate list,” she said.
If not met, the KPU is asked to reject candidate registrations from political parties in the relevant electoral districts.
Meanwhile, Constitutional Court Justice Arsul Sani reminded the petitioners of the importance of explaining in detail the location of the norm’s conflict being tested with the 1945 Constitution.
“That is the most important thing; you must show where the conflict lies. The more grounds for examination used, the more you must explain the norm’s conflicts,” said Arsul.
The amendments must be submitted no later than Tuesday, 28 April 2026 at 12:00 WIB.