INDONESIA, IN PREPARATION FOR A CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT

Picture source: feministactivism.com

The third largest democratic country in the world, Indonesia, is now preparing for their next general election in 2019. One of the goals of the government of Indonesia is to promote human rights and gender equality. Even though women in Indonesia comprise almost half of the total Indonesian population (49,7%), there are still some challenges and limitations for Indonesian women to raise their voices and opinions, especially in the legislative decision-making process. Issues such as gender inequality in health and employment and also women's involvement in the legislature are still on the government's agenda for the upcoming election (The Globe Post 2018).

In accordance with the constitutional law on political parties, each political party is required to fulfill the 30 percent gender quota on female representation in their central management and list of legislative candidates. For the upcoming election, until today, there are 20 political parties that have been approved by Komisi Pemilihan Umum (National Election Commission) to participate. This includes 16 national and 4 regional political parties. As reported by Kompas.com, each of them has more than 35 percent of female representation in their candidate list, giving prospects for women in Indonesia to participate actively in the nation-building process and improve their condition.