Requirements for Gubernatorial Candidacy for Political Parties Without Seats in the Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD)

The Constitutional Court has established a new threshold for regional head elections (Pilkada) through Decision Number 60/PUU-XXII/2024. This decision resulted from a lawsuit filed by Said Iqbal, President of the Labor Party, and Muhammad Anis Matta, Chairman of the Gelora Party.

Previously, based on Article 40 paragraphs (1) and (3) of Law Number 10/2016, candidates for regional heads could only be nominated by a political party or coalition of political parties that secured at least 20% of the seats in the Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD); or obtained at least 25% of the valid votes in the region.

With Constitutional Court Decision Number 60/PUU-XXII/2024, candidates for regional heads can now be nominated by a political party or coalition of political parties that do not have seats in the DPRD. The requirement is to obtain a minimum of 6.5-10% of the valid votes, depending on the number of permanent voter lists (DPT) in the region.

The following are four classifications of minimum valid votes based on the Constitutional Court's decision specifically for gubernatorial and vice-gubernatorial candidates:

1. Provinces with a population on the DPT of up to 2 million people, political parties or coalitions of political parties participating in the election must obtain a minimum of 10% of the valid votes.
2. Provinces with a population on the DPT of more than 2 million to 6 million people, political parties or coalitions of political parties participating in the election must obtain a minimum of 8.5% of the valid votes.
3. Provinces with a population on the DPT of more than 6 million to 12 million people, political parties or coalitions of political parties participating in the election must obtain a minimum of 7.5% of the valid votes.
4. Provinces with a population on the DPT of more than 12 million people, political parties or coalitions of political parties participating in the election must obtain a minimum of 6.5% of the valid votes.

Revised by the DPR

The Legislation Body of the House of Representatives (Baleg DPR) immediately overturned the Constitutional Court's decision by revising the Regional Head Election Law during a Working Committee meeting at the Parliament Building, Jakarta, on Wednesday (20/8/2024).

The meeting, which lasted less than seven hours, agreed that political parties with seats in the DPRD must still adhere to the 25% threshold. However, the Baleg meeting still agreed to the Constitutional Court's decision regarding political parties without seats in the DPRD.