DPR Member Rachel Maryam Glad Prabowo Trusts Many Female Figures In The Cabinet

Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives Rachel Maryam. Photo: Mentari/vel

JAKARTA - DPR member Rachel Maryam welcomes the many female figures in the presidential government cabinet elected Prabowo Subianto. Rachel considers that female figures who will enter the government cabinet can be a form of inclusive gender representation.

"The presence of female ministerial and deputy ministerial figures shows a positive step towards gender representation in the cabinet. Of course we at the DPR warmly welcome the ministerial and cabinet candidates from the women's group who will later become our partners," Rachel said, Friday, October 18.

There are dozens of female figures who have been summoned by Prabowo to help him work in the future government period. Some are said to be projected as ministerial candidates, deputy ministerial candidates, and head agencies.

Those who are predicted to enter the Prabowo Cabinet are Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who has experience in finance, who has served as Minister of Finance since the era of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and returned to the cabinet of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). He is known as a reliable economist with an international reputation.

Then there is also Veronica Tan, the ex-wife of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) who is now active in the Chinese community and has experience in the business sector. There is also Widiyanti Putri Wardhana who is a businessman, and Arifatul Choiri Fauzi, General Secretary of PP Muslimat NU and active at MUI.

In addition, there is Meutya Hafid, a former journalist who is also a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives and served as Chairman of Commission I of the DPR in the 2019-2024 period. Then Ribka Haluk, who is now the Acting Governor of Papua, with experience in local government.

In addition, Prabowo also summoned Christina Aryani, a politician who also has a professional career as a legal advisor, a lecturer at the legal faculty, and executive director at various private companies. Then Isyana Bagoes Oka, Secretary General of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), and Diana Kusumastuti who is the Director General of Human Settlements at the Ministry of PUPR.

The last two female figures who are said to be joining the Prabowo cabinet are Stella Christie, a Professor from the University of Tsinghua China and Dyah Roro Esti, a politician who is a member of the DPR for the 2019-2024 period.

Rachel assessed that the decision of the Elected President Prabowo Subianto to involve more women in his cabinet was in line with the increase in the number of female members of the DPR for the 2024-2029 period.

"The more women in the executive and legislative seats, the more gender representative policies, the greater support for women's interests," said the legislator from the West Java II electoral district.

Based on the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report, the acquisition of women's seats in the DPR for the 2024-2029 period was the highest in the history of election results. In the 1999 election, women's DPR members only amounted to 8.2%. Then in the 2004 election it was at 11.5 percent.

Furthermore, in the 2009 election, there were 18% of female members of the DPR, the 2014 election fell to 17.3%, the 2019 election for female DPR members was 20.5%, and for the 2024 General Election the figure rose to 21.9% or there were 127 female council members from a total of 558 members of the DPR for the 2024-2029 period.

"Of course we hope that the increase in the number of female members in this period can maximize the work of the DPR, especially to support the interests of women," said Rachel.

"Hopefully, the legislative, budget and supervision products carried out by the DPR can also be more to guard the aspirations of Indonesian women," he continued.

Rachel said that women's cooperation in executive and legislative institutions can support efforts to protect and empower women. Moreover, the challenges faced by women in this era of progress are getting bigger.

"Making a woman's voice heard is not easy, especially since there are still a lot of patriarchal thinking in Indonesia. So the more Srikandi struggles, the goals he gets will also increase and be faster," Rachel said.

"There is still a lot of homework to be done to ensure that women's voices are heard and fought for effectively. Women's proportions still need to be improved to reflect the diversity of the Indonesian population as a whole," he added.

According to Rachel, women who are in strategic positions or decision-making positions in policy must be able to bring real change. The policies taken also need to consider women and other vulnerable groups.

"Women can develop programs that support women's empowerment. Ensure better access to education and health for all levels of society," Rachel said.

"Not only filling positions symbolically but also being able to bring real changes in policies that favor women and other vulnerable groups," he added.

Although the representation of women in the DPR itself actually still has to be fought for again, Rachel assesses that the increase in the number of female council members can further add to the struggle for all women in Indonesia.

"Women can contribute to making policies that are inclusive and responsive to the needs of the community, especially on issues of women and children that are attached to each other," Rachel said.

"So the increasing role of women in the DPR, and also in the government in Pak Prabowo's cabinet, will certainly contribute positively to every woman in Indonesia," he concluded.