Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto and leaders of government coalition parties have agreed to propose a 5% parliamentary threshold for the 2029 election, raising the minimum share of national votes a political party must secure to win seats in the House of Representatives.

The agreement was reached at a meeting on Tuesday to discuss revisions to Law No. 7/2017 on General Elections, Gerindra Party Secretary-General Sugiono said Wednesday.

Under the proposed rule, a party would need to win at least 5% of the national vote to qualify for seats in the House. The current threshold is 4%.

“Yesterday, several party leaders gathered to discuss matters that need to be addressed in the Election Law,” Sugiono told reporters at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta.

Gerindra was represented at the meeting by its daily chairman, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad.

Why 5%?
Sugiono said the coalition had agreed on the 5% figure as part of efforts to make the 2029 election more effective and efficient.

“We agreed on that figure,” he said.

The agreement includes Gerindra and Golkar, which had previously pushed for a parliamentary threshold above 4%, Sugiono said.

A higher threshold would mean parties receiving less than 5% of the national vote would not qualify for House seats. Sugiono said the change was intended to improve the electoral system and ensure voters’ choices are accommodated as effectively as possible.

“Broadly speaking, the goal is to make elections more effective and efficient, while ensuring that voters’ voices, including those that could otherwise be wasted, are accommodated as optimally as possible,” he said.

The parliamentary threshold is one of several issues being considered in the planned revision of the Election Law ahead of the 2029 election. The revision is also expected to address other aspects of the electoral system.

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