Khofifah Indar Parawansa

Khofifah Indar Parawansa (born 19 May 1965) is an Indonesian politician who is the current Governor of East Java. Previously she served as the 27th Minister of Social Affairs.[1] She resigned from the position in January 2018 in order to run in the East Java gubernatorial election.[2]

Khofifah Indar Parawansa
14th Governor of East Java
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 February 2019
President	Joko Widodo
Deputy	Emil Dardak
Preceded by	Soekarwo
Minister of Social Affairs
In office 27 October 2014 – 17 January 2018
President	Joko Widodo
Preceded by	Salim Segaf Al-Jufri
Succeeded by	Idrus Marham
State Minister of Female Empowerment
In office 26 October 1999 – 9 August 2001
President	Abdurrahman Wahid
Preceded by	Tutty Alawiyah
Succeeded by	Sri Redjeki Sumarjoto
Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives
In office 1 October 1999 – 26 October 1999
President	Bacharudin Jusuf Habibie Abdurrahman Wahid
Preceded by	Syarwan Hamid
Succeeded by	Muhaimin Iskandar
Personal details
Born	Khofifah (1965-05-19) 19 May 1965 Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia
Citizenship	Indonesian
Nationality	Indonesian
Political party	National Awakening Party
Spouse(s)	Indar Parawansa ​ ( m. 1992; died 2014)
Children	4
Alma mater	Airlangga University (dra.) University of Indonesia (M.I.P.)
Cabinet	Development Reform Cabinet National Unity Cabinet Working Cabinet

She had previously served as the fifth Minister for Female Empowerment, as well as the chairwoman of the Family Planning Board in the National Unity Cabinet, and was also a former Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives. She was the first member of parliament who gave formal critical speech toward Soeharto regime, highlighting 1997 General Election fraud during 1998 General Session of People's Consultative Assembly.[3][4]

She was elected chairwoman of the Muslimat, an Islamic women's group affiliated to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), for the 2000–2005 term, and reelected three times, most recently in 2016 until 2021.[5][6]

In August 2015, she launched the "2015 Prostitution-Free National Movement" during a working visit to Jayapura, West Papua. The Tanjung Elmo red-light district located in Sentani, West Papua, was to be closed down. Commercial sex workers were to be sent back to their hometowns and given Rp 5 million (about US$500) from the Social Affairs Ministry in addition to another Rp 5 million given by the Jayapura provincial government, in order to find "decent jobs".[7] In early 2016, she announced the government aimed to shut down 100 red-light districts by 2019 in a bid to eradicate prostitution. As of February 2016, 68 red-light districts had been closed down.[8]

In response to homophobic rhetoric from some officials and religious preachers, Khofifah on 16 January 2016 told the House of Representatives that the Social Affairs Ministry does not acknowledge the categorization or term "LGBT" (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) but only recognizes "people living with HIV/AIDS and minorities". She said the ministry's task is "to restore the respective social behaviors of men and women", an effort which "needs to be maximized in order to go back to the way it was before".[9]

Responding to the Jakarta November 2016 protests by Muslim groups and extremists against the city's Christian and ethnic Chinese governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Khofifah as well as Indonesian National Armed Forces Commander Gatot Nurmantyo, Indonesian National Police Tito Karnavian and Islamic activist Yenny Wahid marched in support of interfaith unity.[10][11]

Early life

Khofifah was born on 19 May 1965 in Surabaya, East Java.[12]

Personal life

She was married to Indar Parawansa (also rendered as Parawangsa), also known as Daeng Beta (born on 26 July 1960 in Palu, Sulawesi). Khofifah has four children, a daughter and three sons: Fatimahsang Mannagalli Parawansa, Jalaluddin Mannagalli Parawansa, Yusuf Mannagalli Parawansa and Ali Mannagalli Parawansa.[13]

See also

• List of Governors of East Java

References

1. (in Indonesian) Profile at Merdeka.com.
2. Pratiwi, Priska Sari (9 January 2017). "Khofifah Resmi Mundur dari Mensos Usai Sah Jadi Cagub Jatim". CNN Indonesia. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
3. "Khofifah, Dilahirkan sebagai Pelayan Masyarakat". Muslimat NU Online (in Indonesian). 30 October 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
4. "Profil Khofifah Indar Parawansa". Tirto.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 27 June 2018.
5. Media, Kompas Cyber (25 November 2016). "Khofifah Kembali Pimpin Muslimat NU". KOMPAS.com (in Indonesian).
6. "Khofifah Kembali Pimpin Muslimat NU - Cetak ANTARA News". Antaranews.com. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
7. "Lokalisasi Tanjung Elmo yang Terbesar di Jayapura Tamat, PSK Dipulangkan". detiknews (in Indonesian). 21 August 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
8. "Indonesia Disiapkan Bebas Lokalisasi Tahun 2019". Beritasatu.com (in Indonesian). 22 February 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
9. "Menteri Khofifah Sebut Tugas Kemensos Kembalikan LGBT ke Fungsi Sosial - Tribunnews.com". Tribunnews.com (in Indonesian). 16 January 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
10. Police Chief Calls for National Unity. Tempo, 30 November 2016. Accessed 5 December 2016.
11. Tia Asmara, Indonesians Rally for Unity in Military-Backed Demonstrations. Benar News, 30 November 2016. Accessed 5 December 2016.
12. "Khofifah Indar Parawansa - Profil | merdeka.com". Merdeka.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 8 December 2016.
13. "Bahagiakan dan Lindungi Anak Indonesia - Pontianak Post". Pontianak Post (in Indonesian). 24 July 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.