June 19, 2024
JAKARTA – A recent Constitutional Court ruling ordering a legislative election revote in Gorontalo may set the precedent for parties to fulfill the 30 percent minimum quota for women’s representation in elections.
On June 6, the court ruled in favor of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) over its petition requesting a revote for the Gorontalo Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) election in two regencies, because four big- and mid-sized parties failed to meet the minimum quota of 30 percent for female candidates in the February poll.
The four parties, each of which had female candidates making up just 27 percent the final candidate list (DCT), were the Gerindra Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the NasDem Party and the Democratic Party.
The court gave the Gorontalo General Elections Commission (KPUD) 45 days, or until mid-July, to hold the revote.
It also ordered the parties to revise their candidate liss to fulfill the 30 percent minimum quota for female candidates, Justice Saldi Isra read out the ruling during a hearing on June 6.
Should the four parties fail to include more women candidates, the Gorontalo KPUD must disqualify them from the revote in the Gorontalo 6 electoral district, which covers Boalemo and Pahuwato regencies.