Carlos Paath & Yohannie Linggasari – While several female politicians, including former legislator Angelina Sondakh, have been embroiled in graft cases recently, politicians and experts are upbeat that an increased number of women in the House of Representatives will boost the legislature's performance and standing.

Women account for 18 percent of legislators, holding 101 of 560 seats after the 2009 legislative election. That figure is up from 61 out of 550 seats after the 2004 election, but is still well short of the government's target of 30 percent women's representation in the House.

As Indonesia marked International Women's Day over the weekend, female politicians expressed hope that more women would become legislators after the 2014 election.

Jana Sjamsiah, a deputy secretary general of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said her party would continue to push for more female House members.

"Women's presence in the legislature should bring better changes in terms of the legislative process, budgeting and supervision," she told reporters during a training session held by the party for its female members on Saturday.

The PAN issued a decision to include a 30 percent quota for women in the party's daily management at the central, regional, branch and sub-branch levels. The PAN's affirmative action policy is expected to provide an opportunity for women to play a bigger role in the party.

"Women have become more meaningful for the PAN because 43 percent of our voters in the 2009 general election were women. This shows that women are one of the groups of people that need to be approached and empowered so that they will vote for the PAN in the upcoming 2014 general election," Jana said.

Welya Safitri, head of the PAN's women's empowerment unit, said the party would continue to improve the quality of its female legislators.

Separately, Dewi Aryani, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said more women in the House would boost public trust.

"You see, most legislators arrested in corruption cases are men, while only one or two women are involved in graft scandals. I don't think these two graft-implicated women have ruined the image of female legislators as a whole," she said, referring to the Democratic Party's Angelina and Wa Ode Nurhayati from the PAN.

Nurul Arifin, a Golkar Party legislator, said that most female legislators were honest and worked hard at their jobs. "Increasing women's involvement in politics will ensure a more transparent and accountable process. One or two corrupt legislators can't ruin [our] work," she said.

Several surveys by the World Bank have found that women's involvement in politics has helped reduced corruption.

According to a report by TrustLaw, India has seen changes since a 1993 law reserved 30 percent of seats on village councils for women. The World Bank's annual World Development Report this year credited this change for increasing the provision of clean water, sanitation, schools and other public goods in the villages, and for lower levels of corruption.

Also quoting the World Bank report, TrustLaw reported that bribes paid in Indian villages headed by women were 2.7 to 3.2 percentage points lower than in those led by men. When men control all the levers of power, researchers say, money is more likely to be invested in big-ticket construction projects such as road building where corruption is rife, rather than in schools or clinics.

During a discussion on "Women Making Indonesia" at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta on Friday, all speakers agreed that women should be more active in the country's decision-making process.

The event, organized by commercial law firm Oentoeng Suria & Partners, featured Melba Pria, the Mexican ambassador to Indonesia. Pria said women should master public speaking, strategic thinking and results-based management to widen their role in decision making, rather than simply thinking: "How can I get a rich husband?"

Ani Sucipto, a political researcher from the University of Indonesia, said the reduced number of political parties in 2014 would help more women get elected.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has decided that only 10 parties are eligible to field candidates in next year's election, down from 38 in 2009.

"Too many parties won't benefit women. It will be easier for women to get voted in if there are fewer parties," Ani said.