Indonesia

A Step Forward but Not Enough

In the 2019 general election, Indonesians elected more women into the national parliament than ever before, with women’s representation rising to 20.9%. This increase was attributed to the implementation of a 30% candidate quota for women, which compelled political parties to nominate more women candidates. However, this quota did not lead to equal representation, as more than 20% of electoral districts did not elect any women to parliament.

Jakarta (ANTARA) - As Indonesia will hold the 2024 General Elections on February 14, 2024, efforts to support women's representation in politics are still needed.

The Global Gender Gap Index 2022 released by the World Economic Forum ranked Indonesia in the 92nd position out of 146 countries, with a score of 0.697.

Indonesia’s election lineup next month will be dominated by men, but a number of women are trying to break into a political scene long overshadowed by patriarchal elites.

More than 200 million people are eligible to vote in the February 14 election, with slightly more than half of them women, according to the country’s election commission, yet only a handful of women represent them in parliament.

In the 2019 general elections, Indonesian voters elected 118 women to the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR). Although an increase from 2014, when just 97 women were elected, women still only account for 21 per cent of the 575-member parliament. That means women’s political representation in Indonesia remains lower than the 30 per cent candidate quota imposed by the Law on Elections No. 10, 2008.

Following President Megawati Soekarnoputri's term, Indonesia, the largest nation in Southeast Asia, has yet to witness a woman at its helm.

It has been 20 years since the country had a female leader. This situation will persist through the upcoming Presidential 2024 election, as female candidates have yet to emerge on the political horizon.

Online bullying of women and girls in Indonesia skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this disturbing trend has continued and even intensified ahead of the February 14, 2024 elections.

Women’s political representation in Indonesia may fall for the first time since the 1999 election, even before the voting starts. 

Political parties claim to have met the minimum national quota of 30 percent for female candidates, but a recent report has found that only one party competing in the 2024 legislative election meets the requirement at the district level. For two decades since the enactment of the 2003 Legislative Elections Law, each political party contesting a legislative election has been required to field a cohort of candidates of which at least 30 percent are female.