The calls for meaningful political reform followed a late-August unrest that was fueled by public anger over economic inequality, police brutality and arrogance and lavish housing allowance for lawmakers, who are meant to serve the public.

Discussions on the much-awaited revision are set to begin next year, with lawmakers exploring the possibility of combining all laws governing elections and political parties into a sweeping omnibus law.

“We will start discussing it next year,” House of Representatives deputy speaker Saan Mustopa said last Tuesday, citing the recent inclusion of the planned revision in the list of priority bills for 2026.

Several controversial proposed changes to the electoral system have been raised by some major political parties in the government-controlled House, including abolishing direct regional head elections in favor of having governors and mayors be appointed by regional legislatures (DPRDs), a model similar to that used during the authoritarian New Order regime.

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Another contentious proposal to ditch the prevailing open-list voting system for legislative elections has also resurfaced. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said on Wednesday that it would support a closed-list system, in which voters solely vote for parties that in turn exclusively decide the winning candidates proportionate to the number of votes won.