Semarang City Regional House of Representatives

Semarang was granted city status (Gemeente) during the Dutch East Indies period on 1 April 1906, and a city council (gemeenteraad) comprising 23 members was formed.^[1] Together with the city councils of Surabaya and Bandung, Semarang's city council was the first in the Dutch East Indies to have elected women as councillors in 1938.^[2] During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, the city government was abolished, although a 20-member advisory council was formed to support the Japanese military administrator.^[1]

After the end of the revolution, a provisional regional house of representatives (DPRDS) was formed in 1950 with 34 members who were selected by a 165-member committee led by the city's mayor Koesbiyono. The 1950 DPRDS included 13 members of political parties, 7 members of labor unions, with other councillors representing other organisations.^[3] The Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) held a majority in the city council following the 1955 general election and 1957 local elections. The other political parties – the Indonesian National Party, Masyumi, and Nahdlatul Ulama – boycotted the council after PKI legislators elected a PKI mayor in 1957.^[4] Following the transition to the New Order, Semarang's legislative election starting in 1971 like other cities was dominated by Golkar.^[5] PDI-P became the biggest party in the council after the fall of Suharto in the 1999 election, with 20 PDI-P councillors.^[6]

The legislative building is shared with the mayoral office, in a Greco-Roman style building which was formerly used as a Dutch villa.^[7]

For the 2024 election, 50 members were elected to the council, with 6 electoral districts.^[8] The current speaker is Kadar Lusman of PDI-P, who was sworn in on 13 September 2019.^[9]