Response to Yusril's Proposal: Hasto Reminds That Parliamentary Threshold Cannot Be Decided Unilaterally

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - PDI Perjuangan DPP General Secretary Hasto Kristiyanto has responded to the statement by the Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who proposed that the number of parliamentary tools (AKD) or commissions in the DPR should serve as the parliamentary threshold for political parties participating in general elections (pemilu).

He believes that every party has interests in determining the parliamentary threshold, so the decision on it must not be unilateral.

Regarding the ideal figure for the parliamentary threshold, for PDI Perjuangan, it is important to look back historically.

“PDI Perjuangan first speaks about its philosophy. That after the fall of Pak Harto, democratisation was carried out and then the mechanism for leadership regeneration was established through periodic elections every five years,” said Hasto at GOR Otista, Jakarta, on Sunday (3/5/2026).

Considering that Indonesia adheres to a presidential system of government, for the sake of the effectiveness of running the state government, a parliamentary threshold is used as an instrument of democracy through elections.

The people are given sovereignty to choose their representatives in parliament, not through power as it happened during the era of former President Soeharto.

“That is the meaning of the parliamentary threshold, which then its increase is done gradually as an effort to raise the parliamentary threshold, so that the number of political parties in the DPR will be consolidated to increase the effectiveness of government,” Hasto explained.

“This is what will then emerge in the discussion of the Election Law,” he said.

Hasto emphasised that PDI Perjuangan will prioritise dialogue with other parties. Including non-parliamentary parties that are considered to have rights to their existence.

“This is what PDI Perjuangan pays attention to so that it will eventually lead to a picture that can be agreed upon together,” he asserted.

Previously reported, Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correctional Services Yusril Ihza Mahendra proposed that the number of commissions in the DPR should become the parliamentary threshold for political parties participating in general elections (pemilu).

Referring to the 2024-2029 DPR period which has 13 commissions, political parties must obtain 13 seats in the elections to pass the parliamentary threshold.

If participating political parties do not get 13 seats in the DPR, it means they cannot place their representatives in parliament.

However, the former General Chairman of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) also proposed the formation of joint coalitions for political parties that do not pass the 13-seat parliamentary threshold.

“In this way, no votes are lost and it is quite fair for all of us,” he said.