Indonesia

With no strict provisions on female representation, legislation often overlooks the rights of women, according to expert witnesses at a judicial review of the 2012 Legislative Election Law at the Constitutional Court on Thursday. According to the National Commission on Violence against Women, there were 282 new bylaws enacted in 2012 that discriminate

Representatives of the government and the House of Representatives told a court hearing on Tuesday that the new legislative election law did not sideline women and was devised to empower them politically. They were responding to women activists’ claims that the law was discriminatory against women for not strictly requiring political parties to ensure

While several female politicians, including former legislator Angelina Sondakh, have been embroiled in graft cases recently, politicians and experts are upbeat that an increased number of women in the House of Representatives will boost the legislature’s performance and standing. 

Women account for 18 percent of legislators, holding 101 of 560 seats after the 2009 legislative election. That figure is up from 61 out of 550 seats after the 2004 election, but is still well short of the government’s target of 30 percent women’s representation in the House. 

The Indonesian Women’s Caucus for Politics (KPPI) in Bali has started a movement for the greater representation of women in the legislature for the 2014 general elections. 

The caucus will push political parties for a minimum of 30 percent women representation in their organizational structures and in legislative candidacies in next year’s election. 

(We invite our users to read the full article published March 9 2013 by the Jakarta Post)

Constitutional law professor Yusril Ihza Mahendra has questioned the 30 percent quota for women in the Indonesian electoral system, doubting the legal foundation of the quota and expressing a desire for the Constitutional Court to repeal it.
Many women have defended the policy. The issue of quotas for women has provoked tough debate in Indonesia and in the world. Do we need such gender-biased policies?

(Read full article at: The Jakarata Post)

The Asia Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to Asia's development since 1954, announced today it has signed an agreement with the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Indonesia for a three-year, $1.2 million program to increase women's political participation and strengthen good governance in Indonesia.
For more information, please visit Earth Times' Website.

The Political Parties Law stipulates that 30 percent of the House of Representatives and the People's Representative Council should be female. But the reality is that only 11.27 percent of the House's 550 members are women.
To read the full article, please visit the Jakarta Post's Website.