Jakarta. Indonesia's major political parties are debating how presidential candidates should qualify for the 2029 election after the Constitutional Court abolished the country's longstanding presidential nomination threshold, leaving lawmakers to devise new rules that comply with the landmark ruling.

Under the previous system, a presidential ticket could be nominated only by a political party or coalition that controlled at least 20% of seats in the House of Representatives or won at least 25% of the national vote in the preceding legislative election.

The Constitutional Court struck down that requirement in January 2025, ruling that a percentage-based presidential nomination threshold was incompatible with the Constitution.

The court said the threshold had restricted voters' ability to choose among a sufficiently broad range of candidates and held that the presidential threshold regime was unconstitutional regardless of the percentage applied.

The ruling, however, did not open the presidential race to independent candidates.

Under Article 6A of the Constitution, presidential and vice-presidential candidates must still be nominated by political parties or coalitions of political parties participating in the election.

The unresolved question is therefore no longer what percentage of parliamentary seats or votes a party must hold, but whether legislation should impose other rules governing how parties form coalitions to nominate presidential tickets.

That issue is now emerging as a key point of debate as lawmakers prepare revisions to Indonesia's election legislation ahead of 2029.

Parties Float Different Models
Senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Said Abdullah has proposed requiring a presidential ticket to be backed by at least two political parties while limiting each nominating coalition to a maximum of four.

He said a maximum was necessary to preserve competition among presidential candidates. 

The proposal has not yet become PDI-P's formal position or been formally discussed by the relevant House commission.

NasDem has separately advocated a minimum of two parties to nominate a presidential ticket, without the four-party ceiling proposed by Said.

“We propose that presidential and vice-presidential candidates be nominated by two parties represented in parliament,” NasDem Deputy Chairman Saan Mustopa said.

Golkar has also supported discussion of a two-party minimum.

Gerindra, the party chaired by President Prabowo Subianto, has yet to announce a definitive position on the proposed nomination mechanism.

“We will accommodate all the proposals and study them comprehensively,” Gerindra spokesman Bahtra Banong said.

2029 Election Rules Still Taking Shape
Indonesia is due to hold its next national election in 2029, covering the presidency, House of Representatives and Regional Representative Council.

The Constitutional Court separately ruled in June 2025 that beginning in 2029, national elections must be separated from regional elections. Presidential, House and Regional Representative Council elections will be held together, while provincial and local legislative and executive elections will take place separately at a later stage.

The precise arrangements will require changes to election legislation before the next nationwide vote.

Under the Constitution, a presidential ticket must win more than 50% of the national vote and meet the required geographic distribution of support to secure victory in the first round. If no ticket satisfies those requirements, the two tickets with the highest vote totals proceed to a runoff.

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