Beritasatu, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission, or KPU, says there has been an increase in the number of women representatives in the national legislatures after the April 2019 election.

"The number of elected women candidates has increased for both the House of Representatives and the Regional Representatives Council, from 131 in 2014 to 162 in 2019," KPU Chairman Arief Budiman said at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday.

Voter turnout had also consistently risen since the 1999 elections, according to the KPU.

"Voter participation was up significantly from 75 percent in 2014 to 82 percent in 2019, or above the national target of 77.5 percent," Arief said.

The House made history in early October when Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) executive Puan Maharani became the first woman to serve as its speaker.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/women-no-longer-just-making-up-the-numbers-in-national-legislatures