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nsupportive regulations and culture have not prevented the increasing representation of women in local legislative councils, election results revealed Monday.

The West Java Elections Commission (KPUD) officially announced that 24 women would become members of the 100-seat provincial legislative council, a sharp increase from the 2004 election that placed only nine women in the council.

"We have calculated the representation of women has reached more than 20 percent or 24 seats from nine seats *in 2004*. Hopefully, this will further the rights of women in the province," West Java KPUD chairman Ferry Kurnia Rizkiansyah said.

Among the 24 women, nine are from the Democratic Party, seven are from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), while Golkar, the United Development Party and the Prosperous Justice Party each secured two seats held by female councilors. The Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) each have one female councilor.

In Central Java, the representation of women at the provincial legislative council increased from 15 seats in 2004, to 23 seats after the April 9 elections.

The PDI-P secured nine of the 23 seats, the Democratic Party won four seats, Golkar and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) obtained three seats, Gerindra won two seats, while the PKB and the National Mandate Party (PAN) secured one seat.

Three of the four elected members of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) from Central Java are women.

They include royal member of Surakarta Palace GKRA Koes Indriyah, former local election supervisory council member, Denty Eka Widi Pratiwi, and designer-cum businesswoman Poppy S. Dharsono.

The one man elected at the DPD is Sulistyo, institute rector from the IKIP PGRI, Semarang.

The number of women in the North Sulawesi Council also increased.

Previously many observers believed the Constitutional Court decision to annul the vote counting method based on the party list, would disadvantage female candidates.

The court's decision was criticized for denying female candidates the affirmative action policies womens' groups claimed they needed to secure legislative and council seats.

Following the decision, civil society organizations worked with women candidates on their campaigns, urging the public to vote for women.

Despite the substantial gains women have made across the archipelago, not all areas recorded an increase of women elected to legislative councils.

Women's rights activists in Aceh expressed their concerns over the small number of women elected as councilors in the provincial legislative council as a result of the election.

"I am disappointed that women are still considered incapable of working with men in politics," Soraya Kamaruzzaman said Monday.