Five women occupy ministerial positions, which brings new hope for women's representation as policy stakeholders in the country.
Earlier, there were nine women ministers during the Joko Widodo (Jokowi) administration. Jokowi's cabinet is recorded to have the most women ministers compared to other Indonesian presidents' cabinets.
During the era of the first president, Soekarno, there were two women ministers, while in Soeharto's era, there were nine women ministers, though there were only two in the government transition era under the third president B.J. Habibie's leadership.
There were two female ministers in the 4th President Abdurrahman Wahid's cabinet and two in the Indonesian 5th President and first female President Megawati Soekarnoputri's cabinet.
During the 6th President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's (SBY's) era, there were eight women ministers.
Here are the names and brief profiles of the five women ministers in Prabowo's Red and White Cabinet:
1. Sri Mulyani Indrawati
President Prabowo entrusted Sri Mulyani Indrawati to serve as minister of finance in his cabinet. Indrawati first served as minister of state for national development planning and head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) in SBY's era.
A year later, Indrawati became the finance minister, replacing Jusuf Anwar due to the cabinet reshuffle by SBY. She held this position until May 2010.
In 2016, Joko Widodo assigned her as finance minister and also during his second term in the 2019-2024 period.
2. Arifatul Choiri Fauzi
President Prabowo appointed Arifatul Choiri Fauzi as minister of women's empowerment and child protection (PPPA), replacing Bintang Puspayoga in the Widodo era.
Fauzi is the general secretary of the Central Board of Islamic organization Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama and is an active member of the Information and Communication Commission of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).
In addition, Fauzi was the deputy chair of the Prabowo-Gibran National Campaign Team in the 2024 Presidential Election.
Meanwhile, businesswoman Veronica Tan was selected to accompany Fauzi as deputy minister of women's empowerment and child protection, which is a new position in the PPPA ministry.
Veronica Tan was born on December 4, 1977, in Medan, North Sumatra. In 1997, she married Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the former governor of Jakarta.
After her divorce in early 2018, Veronica entered the business world by managing a beef import business called Alpha Agro Indonesia.
Veronica is known for her calm nature, though behind that exterior, she has a strong vision for improving the welfare of Indonesian women and children.
Related news: President Prabowo inaugurates 48 cabinet ministers
3. Widiyanti Putri Wardhana
Widiyanti Putri Wardhana was chosen as Prabowo's minister of tourism, succeeding Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno who was the tourism and creative economy minister during the Widodo era.
Wardhana started her career as an entrepreneur. She was one of the founders of PT Teladan Resources which covers various business units in the agribusiness, energy, industry, property, and media sectors.
She is also the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of PT Teladan Resources. Moreover, she held the post of director at PT Teladan Prima Agro (TPA) from 2012 to 2021 and was thereafter appointed as the company's commissioner.
After her inauguration, Wardhana vouched to immediately establish communication with various stakeholders in the tourism sector to gauge Indonesia's current tourism conditions.
Thus, the ministry she led can prepare for the transformation of the tourism ecosystem.
4. Meutya Hafid
Meutya Hafid is the minister of communications and digital affairs in the Red and White Cabinet. She succeeded Budi Arie Setiadi who served as communication and informatics minister in the Widodo era.
Hafid served as chair of Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR) for the 2019-2024 period. She came from the North Sumatra constituency. The woman, born in Bandung, West Java, also won the DPR seat for the 2024-2029 period in the same constituency.
She was an experienced television journalist and her name came into the spotlight when she was held hostage in Iraq in 2005 with her cameraman Budiyanto.
As a politician, Hafid has played a role in increasing women's representation in the parliament and fighting gender issues.
5. Rini Widyantini
Widyantini was inaugurated as minister of state apparatus empowerment and bureaucratic reform (PAN-RB) replacing Abdullah Azwar Anas.
She started her career as a civil servant at the PAN-RB Ministry in 1997, as a policy analyst at the Assistant Deputy for Policy Implementation Affairs.
In 2008, she served as the Assistant Deputy for Economic Institutions in the same ministry and as Assistant Deputy for Institutional Policy Formulation in 2010.
Her career continued to climb, as she became the legal affairs assistant to the PAN-RB Minister in 2011, Deputy for Institutional Affairs in 2012 and Deputy for Institutional Affairs and Governance in 2013.
She served as secretary of the PAN-RB Ministry since 2022 under the leadership of Minister Anas.
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Translator: Lintang P, Kenzu
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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