The first elections were originally planned for January 1946, but because the Indonesian National Revolution was still underway, this was not possible.
 After the war, every cabinet had elections in its program.
 In February 1951 the Natsir cabinet introduced an election bill, but the cabinet fell before it could be debated.
 The next cabinet, led by Sukiman did hold some regional elections.
Finally, in February 1952, the Wilopo cabinet introduced a bill for voter registration.
Discussions in the People's Representative Council did not start until September because of various objections from the political parties.
 According to Feith, there were three factors.
 Firstly, legislators were worried about losing their seats; secondly they were worried about a possible swing to Islamic parties and thirdly an electoral system in accordance with the Provisional Constitution of 1950 would mean less representation for regions outside Java.
 Given the fact that cabinets had fallen after introducing controversial measures, there was reluctance to introduce an election bill and there were concerns about possible political conflicts caused by electioneering.
However, many political leaders wanted elections as the existing legislature was based on a compromise with the Netherlands (the erstwhile colonial power) and as such had little popular authority.
 They also believed elections would bring about greater political stability.
 The "17 October 1952 affair", when armed soldiers in front of the palace demanded dissolution of the legislature, led to greater demands from all parties for early elections.
By 25 November, an elections bill had been submitted to the People's Representative Council.
 After 18 weeks of debate and 200 proposed amendments, the bill passed on 1 April 1953  and became law on 4 April.
 It stipulated one member of the legislature for 150,000 residents and gave the right to vote to everybody over the age of 18, or who was or had been married.

Once the bill had passed the cabinet began appointing members of the Central Electoral Committee.
This was to have one member from each government party and an independent chairman.
However, the Indonesian National Party (PNI) protested that they had no members on the committee, and this dispute was still unresolved when the cabinet fell on 2 June.

On 25 August 1953, the new prime minister, Ali Sastroamidjojo, announced a 16-month schedule for elections starting from January 1954.
On 4 November the government announced a new Central Electoral Committee chaired by PNI member S. Hadikusomo and including all the parties represented in the government, namely Nahdatul Ulama (NU), the Indonesian Islamic Union Party (PSII) the Indonesian People's Party (PRI), the National People's Party (PRN), the Labor Party and the Peasants Front of Indonesia (BTI), as well as the government-supporting Islamic Education Movement (Perti) and the Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo).
The first elections were originally planned for January 1946, but because the Indonesian National Revolution was still underway, this was not possible.  After the war, every cabinet had elections in its program.  In February 1951 the Natsir cabinet introduced an election bill, but the cabinet fell before it could be debated.  The next cabinet, led by Sukiman did hold some regional elections. Finally, in February 1952, the Wilopo cabinet introduced a bill for voter registration. Discussions in the People's Representative Council did not start until September because of various objections from the political parties.  According to Feith, there were three factors.  Firstly, legislators were worried about losing their seats; secondly they were worried about a possible swing to Islamic parties and thirdly an electoral system in accordance with the Provisional Constitution of 1950 would mean less representation for regions outside Java.  Given the fact that cabinets had fallen after introducing controversial measures, there was reluctance to introduce an election bill and there were concerns about possible political conflicts caused by electioneering. However, many political leaders wanted elections as the existing legislature was based on a compromise with the Netherlands (the erstwhile colonial power) and as such had little popular authority.  They also believed elections would bring about greater political stability.  The "17 October 1952 affair", when armed soldiers in front of the palace demanded dissolution of the legislature, led to greater demands from all parties for early elections. By 25 November, an elections bill had been submitted to the People's Representative Council.  After 18 weeks of debate and 200 proposed amendments, the bill passed on 1 April 1953  and became law on 4 April.  It stipulated one member of the legislature for 150,000 residents and gave the right to vote to everybody over the age of 18, or who was or had been married.
Once the bill had passed the cabinet began appointing members of the Central Electoral Committee. This was to have one member from each government party and an independent chairman. However, the Indonesian National Party (PNI) protested that they had no members on the committee, and this dispute was still unresolved when the cabinet fell on 2 June.
On 25 August 1953, the new prime minister, Ali Sastroamidjojo, announced a 16-month schedule for elections starting from January 1954. On 4 November the government announced a new Central Electoral Committee chaired by PNI member S. Hadikusomo and including all the parties represented in the government, namely Nahdatul Ulama (NU), the Indonesian Islamic Union Party (PSII) the Indonesian People's Party (PRI), the National People's Party (PRN), the Labor Party and the Peasants Front of Indonesia (BTI), as well as the government-supporting Islamic Education Movement (Perti) and the Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo).
1955 Indonesian legislative election