Indonesia’s cabinet adds new faces, but women still struggle for political representation
Source: Benar News
Women and gender-equality advocates in Indonesia are crying foul about male dominance in President Prabowo Subianto’s jumbo-sized cabinet.
There are only 14 women in the newly inducted leader’s cabinet of 104 ministers and deputy ministers. That equals 13.46%, although women make up about 49% of Indonesia’s population of close to 280 million people.
While veteran Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was able to retain her influential post, critics view the under-representation of women in politics as emblematic of persistent challenges for gender equality in Indonesia.
By contrast, women were better represented during the first term of Prabowo’s immediate predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who was seen as a progressive when he was first elected president. From 2014 to 2019, there were eight women in Jokowi’s 34-member cabinet.
Among them was Retno Marsudi, the globe-trotting foreign minister during Jokowi’s two terms, who was replaced by Prabowo with a man.
Read here the full article published by Benar News on 6 November 2024.
Image by Benar News
Women and gender-equality advocates in Indonesia are crying foul about male dominance in President Prabowo Subianto’s jumbo-sized cabinet.
There are only 14 women in the newly inducted leader’s cabinet of 104 ministers and deputy ministers. That equals 13.46%, although women make up about 49% of Indonesia’s population of close to 280 million people.
While veteran Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was able to retain her influential post, critics view the under-representation of women in politics as emblematic of persistent challenges for gender equality in Indonesia.
By contrast, women were better represented during the first term of Prabowo’s immediate predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who was seen as a progressive when he was first elected president. From 2014 to 2019, there were eight women in Jokowi’s 34-member cabinet.
Among them was Retno Marsudi, the globe-trotting foreign minister during Jokowi’s two terms, who was replaced by Prabowo with a man.
Read here the full article published by Benar News on 6 November 2024.
Image by Benar News
