Gender Quotas Database

See data for special areas Taiwan and Kosovo


Indonesia

Indonesia

South-Eastern Asia

Indonesia has a Unicameral parliament with legislated quotas for the single/lower house and at the sub-national level. 122 of 580 (21%) seats in the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat / House of Representatives are held by women.

At a glance

Structure of parliament Unicameral

Are there legislated quotas

For the Single / Lower house? Yes
For the Upper house? No
For the Sub-national level? Yes

Are there voluntary quotas?

Adopted by political parties? No
Is there additional information? Yes

Single / Lower House

Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat / House of Representatives

Quota at the Sub-National Level

Voluntary Political Party Quotas*

* Only political parties represented in parliament are included. When a country has legislated quotas in place, only political parties that have voluntary quotas that exceed the percentage/number of the national quota legislation are presented in this table.

Additional information

Previously, the electoral system was a closed list proportional representation system whereby parties presented closed lists, with one-third of the elected candidates being women. In December 2008, the Constitutional Court deemed Article 214 of the electoral law unconstitutional, leading to the adoption of the open list system.

"The 2019 elections were the first to see the number of women elected to Indonesia’s national parliament, the People’s Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR), break through the barrier of 20%, with 120 of the DPR’s 575 seats (20.9%) taken by women" (Aspinall, White, & Savirani, 2021).

Sources

Legal Sources:

  • Constitution of Indonesia - Link
  • General Election Law 7/2017 (amended through 7/2023) - Link
  • Law on Political Parties 2/2008 (amended through 2/2011) - Link

Other Sources:

Additional reading

  • See the latest updates on Indonesia on iKNOW Politics
  • Aspinall, E., White, S., & Savirani, A. 2021. Women's political representation in Indonesia: Who wins and how? 40(1). 3-27. doi:10.1177/1868103421989720
  • Zein Br Siregar, W. 2007. 'Gaining Representation in Parliament: A Study of the Struggle of Indonesian Women to Increase their Numbers in the National, Provincial and Local Parliaments in the 2004 Elections.' PhD thesis, Australian National University.
  • Bylesjö, C. & Seda, F. SSE. 2006. ’Indonesia: The struggle for gender quotas in the world’s largest Muslim country’, in Dahlerup, D. (ed.) Women, Quotas and Politics, London/New York: Routledge, pp. 259-265.
  • Subiyantoro, E.B. 2004. ‘Keterwakilan Perempuan dalam Politik: Masih Menjadi Kabar Burung’, Jurnal Perempuan, 34: 71.
  • Dahlerup, D. 2003. ‘Quota – A Jump to Equality’, in International IDEA The Implementation of Quotas: Asian Experiences, Quota Workshop Report Series no. 1, Stockholm: International IDEA, pp. 10–18.
  • Mar’iyah, C. 2003. ‘The Political Representation of Women in Indonesia: How can it be achieved?’, in International IDEA The Implementation of Quotas: Asian Experiences, Quota Workshop Report Series no. 1, Stockholm: International IDEA, pp. 62–5.
  • Indar Parawansa, K. 2002. ‘Obstacles to Women's Political Participation in Indonesia.’ International IDEA. Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers 2002. Indonesian edition. Stockholm.
  • Mar'iyah, C. 2002. ‘The Political Representation of Women in Indonesia: How Can it be Achieved?’ Paper presented at workshop on The Implementation of Quotas: Asian Experiences. hosted by International IDEA: Jakarta, Indonesia.
  • Parawansa, K.I. 2002. ‘Institution Building: An Effort to Improve Indonesian Women’s Role and Status’, in K. Robinsson and S. Nessell (eds) Women. Gender, Equality and Development, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 68.
  • Robinson, K., & Bessel, S. 2002. Women in Indonesia, Gender, Equity & Development. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
  • Seda, F. SSE. 2002. ‘Legislative Recruitment and Electoral Systems in Indonesia.’In International IDEA, Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers. Indonesian edition, Stockholm.

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