The Petitioners’ experts and witness taking oath before the constitutional justices at a judicial review hearing of the Parliament Law, Tuesday (7/8/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held the fifth judicial review hearing of Law No. 17 of 2014 on the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), House of Representatives (DPR), Regional Representatives Council (DPD), and Regional Legislative Council (DPRD), also known as the MD3 Law, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. The case No. 169/PUU-XXII/2024 was filed by the Indonesian Women Coalition, the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), Kalyanamitra, and Titi Anggraini.

The Petitioners argue that provisions in the Law have factually harmed their constitutional rights, especially in relation to women’s representation in legislative institutions. They highlighted the low women’s representation in the leadership of parliamentary apparatuses (AKD), which is still under 30 percent for the 2024-2029 term.

They challenge Article 90 paragraph (2), Article 96 paragraph (2), Article 108 paragraph (3), Article 120 paragraph (1), Article 151 paragraph (2), and Article 157 paragraph (1) of Law No. 17 of 2014 on MD3. They proposed that the provisions be interpreted to create balance in the composition of women members in House bodies and commissions, such as the deliberative body, the legislative body, and the budget body, where the minimum women representation is 30 percent.

Affirmative Action and Political Equality

The Petitioners presented Kurniawati Hastuti Dewi from the Political Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) as an expert. She explained that affirmative action or temporary special measures is necessary as a form of positive affirmation to strengthen women’s representation in politics.

She believes democracy cannot rely solely on the principle of “one person, one vote” but must also guarantee popular control and political equality. Although, in normative terms, women and men enjoy equal legal status, structural and cultural barriers continue to limit women’s political participation. She referred to the “glass ceiling” phenomenon as a metaphor for the invisible barriers women face, ranging from double workloads and domestic stereotypes to limited access to political resources.

“These invisible yet tangible barriers, known as the ‘glass ceiling,’ describe the systemic, invisible obstacles that prevent women from advancing to the highest levels of political institutions and decision-making positions, despite having the necessary qualifications or experience,” Kurniawati explained at the hearing chaired by Chief Justice Suhartoyo. 

Barriers in Candidacy and Decision-Making

Kurniawati further noted that in the process of legislative candidacy, women often struggle to secure strategic positions on party lists due to the dominance of male elites within political parties. As a result, female candidates must rely on informal networks to campaign, given their limited access to formal party machinery and campaign funds.

“Female legislative candidates often lack sufficient material resources and do not have networks within party structures that tend to be dominated by male elites. Consequently, they cannot rely on formal party machinery because of the high costs involved and must instead depend on informal networks, including women’s networks, during campaigns,” she stated. 

Importance of Critical Mass of Women in Parliament

Kurniawati emphasized the importance of achieving a critical mass of at least 30 percent women in legislative bodies to ensure their voices and influence are not marginalized. Referring to the work of Drude Dahlerup and recommendations from the UN Commission on the Status of Women, she explained that the 30 percent figure is considered a threshold for driving gender-sensitive policy changes.

“When women form only a small minority, they tend to lack influence, become marginalized, and fall into purely symbolic roles. Studies by Drude Dahlerup based on Scandinavian countries, which succeeded in increasing women’s representation, show the transformative impact of having a significant number of women in parliament. When women reach a large minority (≥30%), they can form coalitions, influence legislative agendas, and change the political culture,” she elaborated.

Kurniawati noted that a 30-percent affirmative quota for women at the nomination stage serves as an upstream incentive to bolster women’s presence in parliament, while a 30-percent quota for leadership positions within parliamentary committees (AKD) is a downstream, substantive effort to ensure women occupy strategic roles in policy formulation. Even if women’s representation in parliament has not yet reached 30 percent, placing women in strategic positions can strengthen their substantive presence. This, in turn, helps shape a more inclusive institutional culture within parliament and enhances support for gender mainstreaming in legislative policies. 

Criticism of Political Parties’ Commitment

Another expert presented by the Petitioners, chairwoman of Cakra Wikara Indonesia (CWI) and lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Indonesia Anna Margret Lumban Gaol, criticized the political parties’ weak commitment to advancing women’s representation. She distinguished between merely increasing numbers and truly strengthening women’s positions in parliament.

“Strengthening representation means enhancing power, bargaining positions, and capabilities. Efforts to place more women MPs equally and across all commissions and AKDs are aimed at boosting women’s substantive representation,” she explained.

Lumban Gaol argued that the push for a minimum of 30 percent women in AKD leadership is part of strengthening representation so that women are not only present but also have greater power to influence policymaking processes. She emphasized that political parties are tasked with increasing and strengthening women’s representation, but outcomes remain far from expectations. Data on women’s candidacies and representation in party leadership reveal parties’ lack of seriousness in fulfilling their commitment to gender equality.

“From the 2004 to 2019 elections, there has been an affirmative article for women’s candidacy in the Election Law. However, this provision is merely advisory in nature. Stronger enforcement has only existed through technical regulations such as those issued by the General Elections Commission (PKPU),” she noted. 

AKD Leadership Dominated by Men

Meanwhile, Eva K. Sundari, former House of Representatives (DPR RI) Commissions III and XI member for the 2004–2019 period, provided testimony as a witness. She shared that gender equality was a central focus of her legislative work, as a form of accountability to the women who elected her.

In her written statement, Eva highlighted that although women’s representation in the House throughout 2024–2029 reached around 21 percent, leadership positions within AKDs remain dominated by men. In several commissions and bodies, women are either entirely absent from leadership roles or included only symbolically.

This, she argued, reflects structural and cultural barriers in power distribution and systemic injustice that can only be addressed through legal mechanisms. Based on her experience, Eva stated that the presence of women in AKD leadership is crucial to ensure decision-making processes are not only sensitive to social justice issues but also accommodate the voices of often marginalized groups.

“I was not given the opportunity by my party at that time to hold a leadership position, despite preparing extensively on substantive issues. Yet the opportunity never came,” she revealed.

Eva expressed hope that reforms will be implemented to genuinely realize the principle of gender equality, including providing women with opportunities to hold strategic leadership positions within parliamentary bodies.

 Also read:

Women Representation in Parliamentary Apparatuses Questioned

Constitution Disobedience in the Arrangement of Women's Representation in the Parliamentary Apparatuses

Govt Response to Petition on Female Representation in Parliamentary Apparatuses

At the preliminary hearing on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, legal counsel Ahmad Alfarizy argued that provisions in the Law had factually harmed the Petitioners’ constitutional rights, especially in relation to women’s representation in legislative institutions. He highlighted the low women representation in the leadership of parliamentary apparatuses (AKD), which is still under 30 percent for the 2024-2029 term.

The Petitioners argue against two issues: arrangement on women representation in AKD leadership and the distribution of AKD women members proportionally following the number of women in each faction. They also proposed that the provisions be interpreted to create balance in the composition of women members in House bodies and commissions, such as the deliberative body, the legislative body, and the budget body, where the minimum women representation is 30 percent.

The Petitioners believe the imbalance reflects structural constraints that hinder inclusive women participation in politics. They hope the Constitutional Court declare those articles in Law No. 17 of 2014 unconstitutional and necessitate an interpretation that guarantee women representation in parliament.

Author          : Utami Argawati
Editor           : N. Rosi
PR               : Fauzan F.
Translator     : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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