Snap Elections or Extension of Regional Assembly Terms: Which is More Appropriate?
Jakarta – The regulation of regional assembly (DPRD) member terms has resurfaced following the Constitutional Court’s decision separating national and local elections from 2029.
Two transitional options have emerged into public discourse: extending DPRD terms or conducting snap elections.
Iwan Setiawan, director of Indonesia Political Review (IPR), contends that this policy choice must be analysed seriously from the perspectives of democracy, legitimacy, and political stability.
According to Iwan, extending DPRD terms does offer administrative practicality and state budget savings since no additional elections would need to be held.
“If we analyse this from a democratic perspective, comparing the option of extending DPRD terms with snap elections, extending terms for at most two years would indeed save costs or spare the state from spending additional funds on elections and would be administratively practical,” Iwan told Kompas.com on Thursday (26 February 2026).
“However, the political implications are clear: political legitimacy will certainly be weaker, it risks being deemed unconstitutional because tenure is a mandate from the people, and it will diminish public trust,” he stated.
Iwan emphasised that Indonesia’s state system has clearly regulated the periodisation of power.
“Extending terms without elections potentially conflicts with the principle of power periodisation,” he said.
From a political stability perspective, Iwan views extending DPRD terms as potentially triggering widespread resistance.
The issue of extending terms, according to him, is an extremely sensitive topic in Indonesian politics.
“From a political stability standpoint, extending DPRD terms could spark political resistance and legal challenges to the Constitutional Court. In Indonesia’s context, which is very sensitive to tenure extension issues, we should recall the experience with the discourse on three presidential periods during Jokowi’s presidency. The rejection and criticism were enormous and extensive, so that discourse failed to materialise,” he said.
For this reason, he believes the option of extending DPRD terms carries high political risk and potentially undermines public confidence in representative institutions.