Surabaya Mayor Tri “Risma” Rismaharini is due to be inaugurated as social affairs minister on Wednesday, replacing Juliari Batubara of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on graft charges related to the distribution of COVID-19 social aid earlier this month.

Experts have said Risma’s political affiliation to the PDI-P made her a like-for-like replacement for Juliari.

Risma has served two consecutive terms as Surabaya mayor for the 2010-2015 and 2015-2020 periods. As mayor, Risma is known for her no-nonsense and often headline-grabbing approach to numerous issues over the years.

Under her administration, Surabaya was awarded the Adipura Kencana Award for four consecutive years from 2011 to 2014. She has been named third-best mayor in the world by the World City Mayors Foundation. She also won the 2015 Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award (BHACA) for her efforts in cleaning up Surabaya both from environmental pollution and government corruption.

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But during the pandemic, Risma was criticized for defying calls to extend large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in Surabaya, despite the city’s continued increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases. She claimed in June that the latest numbers reflected a “downward trend” in the region. However, experts doubted Risma’s claim, given that the trend was not showing any signs of declining.

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