In the 2019 general election , Indonesia ns voted more women into the national parliament than ever before. After the first election of the post-authoritarian period in 1999, women’s representation was a paltry 8.8%, so the rise to 20.9% in 2019 seemed worth celebrating. Indeed, women activists had worked long and hard to reach this point. Disappointed with the results of the first two elections, they had successfully pushed for a candidate quota , requiring parties to nominate at least 30% women.
This will again be tested in next week’s election. But given the barriers women candidates in Indonesia face, is the quota enough to raise representation? Read more: Is Joko Widodo paving the way for a political dynasty in Indonesia? Representation better, but not enough Under Indonesia’s open list proportional representation system, parties decide on candidate placement on the list, but voters can choose any candidate. In the past three elections, the quota has meant that in every electoral district at all three levels of parliament, women had to make up at least 30% of candidate
Indonesia General Election Women's Representation Candidate Quota Barriers Parliament