Litbang Kompas: Majority of Indonesians Support Direct Regional Elections

The discourse surrounding the mechanism for indirect regional head elections (pilkada) through the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) began to emerge in public at the end of 2025.

Several major parties, such as Golkar, Gerindra, PKB, and Nasdem, support this system. Their reasons vary, ranging from cost savings and reducing money politics to strengthening the function of the DPRD.

However, findings from Kompas Research and Development show a different picture. The majority, or 77.3% of respondents, prefer direct regional head elections.

"The public's desire to elect regional heads directly cannot be separated from the spirit of democracy and participation that they wish to uphold," wrote Kompas Research and Development in its report on Monday (January 12, 2026).

Meanwhile, only 5.6% of respondents found the scheme of regional head elections through the DPRD suitable. Furthermore, 15.2% viewed both systems as being the same.

This survey also gathered two main reasons why respondents prefer to maintain direct regional head elections.

First, because it is considered more democratic and guarantees participation (46.2%), and voters have the opportunity to choose more qualified candidates compared to others (35.5%).

"When the DPRD makes the choice, the people's opportunity to be directly involved in the election process is lost," wrote Kompas Research and Development.

This survey involved 510 respondents from 76 cities in 38 provinces, who were randomly selected according to the population proportion in each province.

Data collection was conducted from December 8-11, 2025, through telephone interviews. The survey's margin of error was approximately 4.24% with a 95% confidence level, under simple random sampling conditions.