PSI Responds to Discourse on Increasing Parliamentary Threshold to 5 Per Cent
The Daily Chairman of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), Ahmad Ali, has highlighted the potential for an increasing number of people’s votes to fail to convert into parliamentary seats if the parliamentary threshold is raised. He believes that the substance of the Constitutional Court’s (MK) ruling regarding the parliamentary threshold must serve as the foundation for discussing future election regulations.
Ahmad Ali stated that the Constitutional Court’s decision to invalidate the 4 per cent parliamentary threshold provision does not mean the need for a threshold is abolished. However, he argued that the established figure must consider preventing a significant loss of voter’’s voices.
“If we read the Constitutional Court’s decision, the principle is that invalidating the 4 per cent parliamentary threshold does not mean abolishing it,” Ahmad Ali told the media on Wednesday (16/9/2026).
“This means the Constitutional Court agrees that a threshold is necessary. However, what we need to study and observe together in the ruling is why the 4 per cent was invalidated. It was because it was too high. The principle is that the threshold should not result in many people’s votes failing to be converted into seats,” he said.
Ahmad cited his analysis of the 2019 and 2024 General Election results, noting that millions of votes were not converted into seats due to the parliamentary threshold provisions.
“Looking at the 2019–2024 elections, in 2019, when the threshold was 4 per cent, there were 13 million votes that did not convert into seats. In 2024, that number rose to 13, or perhaps 16 or 17 million, if I am not mistaken,” he said.
He noted that the trend of increasing the parliamentary threshold since the Reformation era needs evaluation. According to Ahmad, the higher the threshold, the greater the potential for voters’ voices to remain unrepresented in parliament.
“Roughly speaking, since the Reformation era, it went from 0 per cent, then rose to 2 per cent, then 3.5 per cent. There is an indication that the higher the parliamentary threshold, the more people’s votes fail to be converted into seats,” he explained.
Therefore, Ahmad Ali believes the parliamentary threshold figure should consider one of the points in the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which highlights the non-conversion of votes into seats.
“That is the substance of the Constitutional Court’s ruling. The Constitutional Court has returned the matter to the lawmakers to formulate the parliamentary threshold based on that ruling,” he said.
“If we look at it that way, then the parliamentary threshold should be lowered from the 4 per cent mark, right? So that more of the people’s votes can be converted into seats in the House of Representatives (DPR),” he added.
Nevertheless, Ahmad Ali emphasised that PSI is not in a position to obstruct the discussion of the parliamentary threshold, which is the authority of the lawmakers, namely the DPR and the government. He stated that his party is prepared to accept whatever figure is eventually determined.
Ahmad Ali also touched upon the importance of involving non-parliamentary political parties in these discussions. He noted that, so far, the plan to involve non-parliamentary parties or election participants has not been implemented.
“The lawmakers are the political parties in the DPR and the government. Although the ruling states that the DPR is obliged to invite and involve non-parliamentary parties or election participants for discussion, that plan has not happened to this day,” he said.
He expressed concern that if the parliamentary threshold provisions are set, they might be challenged again in the Constitutional Court. He believes that a Constitutional Court decision invalidating such a provision could create obstacles for the implementation of future elections.
“My only worry is that there might be a challenge against the determination, which could eventually become an obstacle when the matter is brought to the Constitutional Court and the Court invalidates it,” he said.
However, Ahmad emphasised that PSI is ready to face whatever provisions are decided by the lawmakers. “For PSI, there is no problem. God willing, we are very ready for whatever decision the lawmakers make,” he said.
When asked if PSI is prepared to face an election with any determined parliamentary threshold, Ahmad Ali maintained that his party is not in a position to declare agreement or disagreement.
“We are only here to provide arguments on how to interpret the Constitutional Court’s decision,” he concluded.