DPR member: women's presence in parliament leads to more comprehensive policies

Jakarta (ANTARA) - DPR Committee I member Nurul Arifin stated that the presence of women in parliament brings a more comprehensive perspective to policy-making. She also supported the Constitutional Court’s (MK) ruling which reinforces the mandatory 30% female representation in legislative candidates. The ruling is crucial for strengthening Indonesia’s democratic quality and ensuring women have a fair and substantive political space. ‘Women’s representation is not just about meeting administrative quotas. It is part of democratic commitment to ensure public policies emerge from a more comprehensive and representative perspective,’ Nurul said in a statement in Jakarta on Thursday. According to her, the presence of women in parliament has consistently improved over time. In the 1999 general election, female representation in the DPR was around 8.2%, rising to 11.5% in 2004. It then rose to 18% in 2009, slightly declined to 17.3% in 2014, and increased to 20.5% in 2019. In the current 2024-2029 term, she noted that there are 127 female members out of a total 580 DPR members, representing 21.9% — the highest in Indonesia’s parliamentary history. ‘This demonstrates that Indonesian society is increasingly accepting of female leadership. our political space is gradually becoming more inclusive,’ she said. She highlighted that experiences from several Nordic countries show that high female representation in politics often correlates with better public governance quality. Countries such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have long been known for high female representation in parliament and government, along with high transparency, education, social welfare, and public service quality indexes. ‘Diverse perspectives in parliament enrich the policymaking process, making it more sensitive to societal needs and more representative,’ Nurul added.