Introduction

Women have long been left out of the policy debate and politics in Indonesia. At the beginning of the New Order era (1966-98), politically active women were accused of being members of Gerwani, an organization affiliated with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). The New Order military government depicted Gerwani members as evil and immoral; as a consequence, women were afraid of voicing their opinions publicly and coming across as outspoken (Wieringa 2002). The Suharto government pursued other ways to depoliticize women and steer them towards being active in state-approved movements that reinforced the important roles played by obedient mothers and wives in the country's development (Suryakusuma 2011). In its later years, however, the New Order government became more tolerant of women's activism, which grew rapidly and became more vibrant after Reformasi. Nevertheless, the progressive women's movement grappled with reaching out to the broader grassroots level because it was mainly run by small, issue-specific, and donor-dependent organizations without mass bases (Rinaldo 2019).

The picture seems to have shifted with the 2019 election. More women actively participated in politics and defended their preferred presidential candidates at the grassroots level. Those who supported the presidential candidacy of Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, Sandiaga Uno, (popularly known as the Prabowo-Sandi team) referred to themselves as emak-emak (mothers), projecting themselves as strong-willed mothers in fighting for whatever they think is right. They claimed to represent struggling women from the middle-to-low socio-economic class, who care primarily about economic stability and having more job opportunities for their children. On the other side, those supporting the team of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Ma’ruf Amin called their women supporters ibu bangsa (mothers of the nation), referring to the term used in the 1935 conference of the International Council of Women (ICW), which has a more inclusive and uplifting meaning compared to emak-emak (Khalika 2018). These women supporters were mainly led by those from the middle-upper class who fear growing intolerance in Indonesia.

We have also seen greater diversity among women candidates in the legislative elections. They came from varied backgrounds such as former activists, entrepreneurs or even relatives of party bigwigs who paved the way for them to participate in the election.