This article was machine-drafted from the sources cited in its footnotes. It is not the official text of any law or court decision, and it is not legal advice (how articles are written).
Elections and political parties in IndonesiaTopic
FieldElections and political parties
JurisdictionIndonesia
Principal instrumentsUndang-Undang 7/2017 on general elections, as amended by Undang-Undang 7/2023; Undang-Undang 1/2015 on the election of governors, regents and mayors, as amended by Undang-Undang 8/2015 and Undang-Undang 10/2016; Undang-Undang 2/2008 on political parties, as amended by Undang-Undang 2/2011
Principal institutionsKomisi Pemilihan Umum (KPU); Badan Pengawas Pemilu (Bawaslu); Dewan Kehormatan Penyelenggara Pemilu (DKPP); Mahkamah Konstitusi (Constitutional Court)

Elections and political parties in Indonesia is the body of Indonesian law that governs how the national and regional legislatures, the President and Vice-President and the regional heads are elected, which bodies organise and supervise those elections, and how the political parties that take part in them are founded and run. Its principal statute is Undang-Undang Nomor 7 Tahun 2017 tentang Pemilihan Umum, the General Elections Law, amended by Undang-Undang 7/2023. Governors, regents and mayors are elected under a separate statute, Undang-Undang 1/2015 as amended, and political parties are governed by Undang-Undang 2/2008 as amended by Undang-Undang 2/2011.[1][2][3][4]

The General Elections Law assigns the organisation of elections to three bodies acting as a single function: the General Elections Commission (Komisi Pemilihan Umum, KPU), the Elections Supervisory Agency (Badan Pengawas Pemilu, Bawaslu) and the Honour Council of Election Organisers (Dewan Kehormatan Penyelenggara Pemilu, DKPP).[1:1] Political parties are the participants in the legislative elections for the House of Representatives (DPR) and the regional legislatures, and they nominate the pairs of candidates for President and Vice-President.[1:2]

The field's statutes are regularly tested before the Constitutional Court. Between June and August 2026 the Court decided four petitions on them, concerning the age limits for election officials, the rules on party office, a candidacy requirement for the DPR and the timing of separated national and regional elections; it rejected two on the merits and declared two inadmissible without reaching them.[5][6][7][8] The national long-term development plan enacted in 2024 also reaches into the field, as the guide for the programmes of candidates for president and for regional head.[9]

The General Elections Law defines a general election (pemilihan umum, pemilu) as the means of popular sovereignty for electing the members of the DPR, of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) and of the regional legislatures (DPRD), and the President and Vice-President, held directly, generally, freely, secretly, honestly and fairly.[1:3] Pasal 2 restates those six principles as the basis of every election, and Pasal 3 requires the organisers to act independently, honestly, fairly and openly, with legal certainty, order, proportionality, professionalism, accountability, effectiveness and efficiency.[10] Pasal 4 states the aims of the law's rules on election administration: to strengthen a democratic constitutional system, to achieve fair elections with integrity, to keep the electoral system consistent, to give legal certainty and prevent duplication in electoral regulation, and to make elections effective and efficient.[11] The law was enacted on the basis of, among other provisions, Pasal 22E of the 1945 Constitution, the constitutional article on general elections.[12]

The law was amended by Undang-Undang 7/2023, which enacted as a statute Government Regulation in Lieu of Law 1/2022 amending the General Elections Law, and was promulgated on 4 May 2023.[2:1] The election of governors, regents and mayors rests on Undang-Undang 1/2015, which enacted Government Regulation in Lieu of Law 1/2014 on those elections, and on its amendments by Undang-Undang 8/2015 and Undang-Undang 10/2016.[3:1]

The law on political parties is Undang-Undang 2/2008, signed and promulgated on 4 January 2008, which defines a political party as a national organisation formed voluntarily by a group of Indonesian citizens on the basis of a shared will and ideals, to fight for and defend the political interests of its members, society, the nation and the state.[4:1] Its Pasal 11 gives parties five functions: political education for members and the public, creating conditions for national unity, absorbing and channelling the public's political aspirations, political participation, and political recruitment to political office through democratic mechanisms with regard to gender equality and fairness.[13] Undang-Undang 2/2011, signed and promulgated on 15 January 2011, amended it.[14]

Election organisers

KPU plans the election programme and budget and sets the schedule, issues KPU regulations for each stage of the election, coordinates, conducts and monitors every stage, and updates the voter list on the basis of the data of the last election, taking account of the population data prepared and supplied by the Government.[15] Bawaslu sets the standards for election supervision, prevents and acts on election violations and disputes over the election process, and supervises the preparation of elections.[16] Election offences are handled through an integrated law-enforcement centre (Sentra Penegakan Hukum Terpadu, Gakkumdu) of Bawaslu, the police and the public prosecution service, which connects the field to criminal law and procedure in Indonesia.[1:4]

The law sets the qualifications for membership of those bodies. Under Pasal 21(1)(b) a candidate for the national KPU must be at least 40 years old at registration, a candidate for a provincial KPU at least 35 and a candidate for a regency or city KPU at least 30; Pasal 117(1)(b) sets the corresponding limits for Bawaslu.[17][18] In Decision 169/PUU-XXIV/2026, two citizens who intended to seek selection to the national KPU or Bawaslu for the 2027 to 2032 term challenged those limits. The Court held that a minimum age for selected election officials has a rational basis and defers, rather than denies, the right to take part in government, and on 17 June 2026 rejected the petition in its entirety.[19][5:1]

Political parties and candidacy

As amended in 2011, Pasal 2 of the Political Parties Law requires a party to be founded by at least 30 Indonesian citizens aged 21 or married from each province, registered by at least 50 founders by notarial deed, with 30 per cent representation of women among its founders, and bars the founders and officers of a party from membership of another party.[14:1] In Decision 257/PUU-XXIV/2026, two petitioners asked the Court to read into that bar a further prohibition on the general chair of a party holding high public office at the same time. The Court found no causal link between the provision and the harm alleged, held that they lacked standing, and on 30 July 2026 declared the petition inadmissible without considering the merits.[20][6:1]

Candidacy for the legislatures is regulated in the General Elections Law. In Decision 270/PUU-XXIV/2026 an individual citizen challenged Pasal 240(1)(e), the requirement that a candidate for the DPR have completed at least upper secondary education. The Court did not reach the merits: the evidence filed online with the petition bore no duty stamp (meterai), and on 12 August 2026 the Court declared the petition inadmissible for failure to meet the formal requirements for filing.[21][7:1]

Timing of simultaneous elections

In Decision 135/PUU-XXII/2024, pronounced on 26 June 2025, the Constitutional Court reinterpreted the provisions of the General Elections Law and the regional head elections statute that fix the timing of simultaneous elections. Under its reading, the national legislative and presidential elections are held together, and the elections for the regional legislatures and regional heads follow no earlier than two years and no later than two years and six months after the inauguration of the national officeholders, starting with the 2029 elections.[22] In Decision 259/PUU-XXIV/2026, two citizens asked the Court to attach a deadline to the legislature's revision of the two statutes, which had not been amended to reflect that reading.[23][24] The Court held that the earlier decision had bound all state organs from its pronouncement and already fixed the time by which the statutes had to be amended, and on 12 August 2026 rejected the petition in its entirety.[22:1][8:1]

Development planning and candidates' programmes

Undang-Undang 59/2024, which enacts the national long-term development plan for 2025 to 2045, makes the plan the guide for the vision, mission and programme that pairs of candidates for President and Vice-President, and for governor, regent and mayor, submit as part of their nomination requirements, campaign material and debates.[9:1] The same statute makes the plan the guide for new legislation and for sectoral master plans, a function described at public administration in Indonesia.[9:2]

Review before the Constitutional Court

Of the four electoral petitions decided in 2026, the two that reached the merits, on the age limits and on the timing of elections, were rejected, leaving the provisions unchanged. The other two failed at the threshold, one for want of standing and one for failure to meet the filing requirements of the Court's procedural regulation.[5:2][8:2][6:2][7:2] The standing test and the formal requirements the Court applied in those cases are described at constitutional review in Indonesia. CRPG's regulatory tracker reported the four decisions between June and September 2026.[25][26][27][28]

See also

Part of a series on Elections and political parties in Indonesia
MK 169/PUU-XXIV/2026 · MK 191/PUU-XXIV/2026 · MK 257/PUU-XXIV/2026 · MK 259/PUU-XXIV/2026 · MK 270/PUU-XXIV/2026 · UU 59/2024
Identifiers Know ID K15
Categories Elections in Indonesia · Constitutional law of Indonesia
What links here (10)

References

  1. [P] Undang-Undang Nomor 7 Tahun 2017 tentang Pemilihan Umum, Pasal 1: angka 1 (Pemilihan Umum), and the definitions of Penyelenggara Pemilu (KPU, Bawaslu and DKPP "sebagai satu kesatuan fungsi"), Peserta Pemilu, Partai Politik Peserta Pemilu, Perseorangan Peserta Pemilu and Sentra Penegakan Hukum Terpadu. Lembaran Negara 2017 No. 182. The item numbers of Pasal 1 after angka 1 are not preserved in the held text, and the held copies end before the later chapters of the statute. regulation_id UU_7_2017_Pemilihan_Umum. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. [P] Undang-Undang Nomor 7 Tahun 2023 tentang Penetapan Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang-Undang Nomor 1 Tahun 2022 tentang Perubahan atas Undang-Undang Nomor 7 Tahun 2017 tentang Pemilihan Umum menjadi Undang-Undang, title and closing formula (Diundangkan di Jakarta pada tanggal 4 Mei 2023). regulation_id UU_7_2023. ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. [P] Undang-Undang Nomor 1 Tahun 2015 tentang Penetapan Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang-Undang Nomor 1 Tahun 2014 tentang Pemilihan Gubernur, Bupati, dan Walikota menjadi Undang-Undang (regulation_id UU_1_2015); amended by Undang-Undang Nomor 8 Tahun 2015 (regulation_id UU_8_2015) and by Undang-Undang Nomor 10 Tahun 2016, Perubahan Kedua (regulation_id UU_10_2016). Titles as held. ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. [P] Undang-Undang Nomor 2 Tahun 2008 tentang Partai Politik, Pasal 1 angka 1 and closing formula (signed and promulgated in Jakarta on 4 January 2008). regulation_id UU_2_2008. ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. [P] Putusan MK Nomor 169/PUU-XXIV/2026, Amar Putusan: "Menolak permohonan para Pemohon untuk seluruhnya"; pronounced 17 June 2026. Constitutional Court database record, case 169/PUU-XXIV/2026. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14414_1781691287.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. [P] Putusan MK Nomor 257/PUU-XXIV/2026, Amar Putusan: "Menyatakan permohonan para Pemohon tidak dapat diterima"; pronounced 30 July 2026. Constitutional Court database record, case 257/PUU-XXIV/2026. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14744_1785396079.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. [P] Putusan MK Nomor 270/PUU-XXIV/2026, Amar Putusan: "Menyatakan permohonan Pemohon tidak dapat diterima"; pronounced 12 August 2026. Constitutional Court database record, case 270/PUU-XXIV/2026. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14800_1786521202.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  8. [P] Putusan MK Nomor 259/PUU-XXIV/2026, Amar Putusan: "Menolak permohonan para Pemohon untuk seluruhnya"; pronounced 12 August 2026. Constitutional Court database record, case 259/PUU-XXIV/2026. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14798_1786521635.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  9. [P] Undang-Undang Nomor 59 Tahun 2024 tentang Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Panjang Nasional Tahun 2025-2045, Pasal 12, Pasal 13 and Pasal 14. regulation_id UU_59_2024. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  10. [P] UU 7/2017, Pasal 2 and Pasal 3. regulation_id UU_7_2017_Pemilihan_Umum. ↩︎

  11. [P] UU 7/2017, Pasal 4. regulation_id UU_7_2017_Pemilihan_Umum. ↩︎

  12. [P] UU 7/2017, preamble, Mengingat (citing, among others, Pasal 22E of the 1945 Constitution). regulation_id UU_7_2017_Pemilihan_Umum. ↩︎

  13. [P] UU 2/2008, Pasal 11 ayat (1). regulation_id UU_2_2008. ↩︎

  14. [P] Undang-Undang Nomor 2 Tahun 2011 tentang Perubahan atas Undang-Undang Nomor 2 Tahun 2008 tentang Partai Politik, Pasal 2 ayat (1), (1a), (1b) and (2) as amended, and closing formula (Disahkan di Jakarta pada tanggal 15 Januari 2011; Diundangkan di Jakarta pada tanggal 15 Januari 2011). regulation_id UU_2_2011. ↩︎ ↩︎

  15. [P] UU 7/2017, Pasal 12. regulation_id UU_7_2017_Pemilihan_Umum. ↩︎

  16. [P] UU 7/2017, Pasal 93. regulation_id UU_7_2017_Pemilihan_Umum. ↩︎

  17. [P] UU 7/2017, Pasal 21 ayat (1) huruf b. regulation_id UU_7_2017_Pemilihan_Umum. ↩︎

  18. [P] Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 169/PUU-XXIV/2026, paragraph [3.12], quoting Pasal 21 ayat (1) huruf b and Pasal 117 ayat (1) huruf b of Undang-Undang 7/2017. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14414_1781691287.pdf ↩︎

  19. [P] Putusan MK Nomor 169/PUU-XXIV/2026, paragraph [2.1] (the petitioners' stated intention to take part in the selection of KPU and Bawaslu members for the 2027–2032 term) and paragraph [3.14]. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14414_1781691287.pdf ↩︎

  20. [P] Putusan MK Nomor 257/PUU-XXIV/2026, paragraph [2.1], part IV (Petitum), and paragraphs [3.6.1]–[3.7]: absence of a causal link; petitioners held to lack standing. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14744_1785396079.pdf ↩︎

  21. [P] Putusan MK Nomor 270/PUU-XXIV/2026, paragraph [2.1] (Pasal 240(1)(e) of UU 7/2017 as quoted in the petition) and paragraphs [3.3.3] and [3.4], applying Pasal 10(4) and 12(3) of Peraturan Mahkamah Konstitusi 7/2025. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14800_1786521202.pdf ↩︎

  22. [P] Putusan MK Nomor 259/PUU-XXIV/2026, paragraph [3.10], quoting items 2–4 of the operative order of Putusan MK 135/PUU-XXII/2024, pronounced 26 June 2025. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14798_1786521635.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎

  23. [P] Putusan MK Nomor 259/PUU-XXIV/2026, paragraph [2.1], Petitum, item 2. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14798_1786521635.pdf ↩︎

  24. [P] Putusan MK Nomor 259/PUU-XXIV/2026, paragraph [3.5]: the absence of an amending statute. https://s.mkri.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_mkri_14798_1786521635.pdf ↩︎

  25. [E] "Constitutional Review of Election Commission Age Limits: MK 169/PUU-XXIV/2026", CRPG regulatory tracker, crpg.id, 23 June 2026. https://crpg.id/constitutional-review-of-election-commission-age-limits-mk-169-puu-xxiv-2026/ (free sign-in required on crpg.id) The post carries a notice that it is AI-generated; it is cited for the record of the development, not for its legal content. ↩︎

  26. [E] "Constitutional Review of Election Law Revision Deadlines: MK 259/PUU-XXIV/2026", CRPG regulatory tracker, crpg.id, 4 September 2026. https://crpg.id/constitutional-review-of-election-law-revision-deadlines-mk-259-puu-xxiv-2026/ The post carries a notice that it is AI-generated; it is cited for the record of the development, not for its legal content. ↩︎

  27. [E] "Constitutional Review of Legislative Candidacy Requirements: MK 270/PUU-XXIV/2026", CRPG regulatory tracker, crpg.id, 5 September 2026. https://crpg.id/constitutional-review-of-legislative-candidacy-requirements-mk-270-puu-xxiv-2026/ The post carries a notice that it is AI-generated; it is cited for the record of the development, not for its legal content. ↩︎

  28. [E] "Constitutional Review of Dual Office Holding by Party Chairpersons: MK 257/PUU-XXIV/2026", CRPG regulatory tracker, crpg.id, 24 September 2026. https://crpg.id/constitutional-review-of-dual-office-holding-by-party-chairpersons-mk-257-puu-xxiv-2026/ The post carries a notice that it is AI-generated; it is cited for the record of the development, not for its legal content. ↩︎