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View all search resultsNasDem’s suggestion rekindles legislative threshold debate
The debate about the legislative threshold, a baseline vote percentage that must be won by political parties to secure seats at the legislature, has persisted since a ruling issued in 2024 by the Constitutional Court. The court ordered lawmakers to adjust the current 4 percent threshold before the 2029 general election.
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Lawmakers attend a House of Representatives plenary session on July 1, 2025, at the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Dhemas Reviyanto)
P
olitical parties have continued to clash over the legislative threshold as the House of Representatives moves forward with plans to revise the 2017 General Elections Law, after NasDem Party chair Surya Paloh recently suggested that the barrier be increased by 3 percentage points.
The debate about the legislative threshold, a baseline vote percentage that must be won by political parties to secure seats at the legislature, has persisted since a ruling issued in 2024 by the Constitutional Court. The court ordered lawmakers to adjust the current 4 percent threshold before the 2029 general election.
While formal deliberations for the law’s revision have not started at the House, the discourse resurfaced after NasDem Party chair Surya Paloh recently proposed raising the threshold to 7 percent, arguing that a higher hurdle would streamline the legislative process.
“NasDem honestly believes that if we could go from the multiparty system [that we have today] to a selected party system, it would make the implementation of our democratic [mandate] more effective,” Surya told reporters at NasDem’s office in Central Jakarta on Saturday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
He added that Indonesia’s democracy had become too caught up in the quantity rather than the quality of political parties.
“We are overjoyed by the sheer number of political parties forming for and in the name of democracy itself,” Surya went on to say. “But what’s the point of such democracy if it doesn’t bring benefits and consistency toward achieving our ideals of independence?”
Read also: Debate over legislative threshold reignites ahead of election law revision
