Jaya binti Raja
Jaya binti Raja | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prime Minister of Melayu | |
| Assumed office 1 March 2012 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 April 1980 Ranau, Melayu |
| Political party | Green Movement |
Jaya binti Raja (born 3 April 1980) is a Melay politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Melayu since 2012.
A member of the Green Movement, Jaya was first elected to Parliament in the 2004 federal election, becoming one of the country's youngest MPs. She became the opposition spokesperson for technology after the party lost the 2008 federal election, and was elected party leader in 2011. She led the party to victory in the 2012 federal election, and won re-election in 2016 and 2020 with majorities, the first since 1968.
Jaya's tenure has been defined by a strong interest in harnessing technological developments for socialist purposes, nicknamed "tablet socialism". Her tenure has been defined by consistent economic growth, increased investment in research and development, and a highly acclaimed response to the WIRS Pandemic.
Early life
Jaya was born on 3 April 1980 in Ranau. She grew up in a working class family, with her parents working as an engineer and a school catering assistant.
She described herself as a tomboy in school, comfortable with wearing male clothing and interested in sports and technology. She took classes in computer programming.
She attended Melayu National University in Ranau from 1998 to 2002, completing a degree in computer science. She subsequently worked at Melay Post and Telecommunications.
Political career
Jaya became interested in politics due to her aunt and uncle, who were members of the Green Movement. She joined the party while in university, becoming a senior member of the Green Students branch.
She was placed on the party list for the 2004 federal election. Despite a low initial placement, she campaigned energetically throughout Ranau and won the most preference votes of any candidate, allowing her to win election. At 24, she became Melayu's youngest MP.
In Parliament, she served on the Science and Technology Committee. She slowly built up a media profile and gained renown as a promising and charismatic MP. Her ambition rankled older colleagues, who privately called her "the girl in a hurry" (gadis itu tergesa-gesa).
She won re-election in 2008, but the Green Movement was thrust into opposition when the Communist Party refused to renew the coalition and switched its allegiance. She was named opposition spokesperson for technology by the party leader. The post brought her prominence and made her a popular guest on various interview programmes and talk shows.
Continued poor polling led to a Green Movement leadership election in 2011. Jaya stood in the election advocating a program of "21st century socialism", which made her very popular among the National Congress. She won the leadership election with 66% of the vote in the final round.
Prime Minister of Melayu
Elections
Jaya led the Green Movement to victory in the 2012 federal election. The party won 49 seats, an increase of 8, and narrowly short of a majority. Jaya had promised not to form a coalition after the difficult experience of the Green–Communist coalition. Instead, she secured confidence and supply from 3 independent MPs, giving her government a working majority.
She led the party to re-election in 2016, where it won 51 seats, its first majority since 1968.
She led the party to re-election in 2020, where it won 55 seats, its best result since 1968.
Domestic policies
In her inaugural speech, Jaya promised to pursue degrowth, "continue the relentless war on waste", and harness technology to make Melayu a cleaner country, positioning her as a bright green environmentalist. She launched a nuclear power phase-out, aiming to shut down all of Melayu's nuclear reactors by 2022, and greatly expanded construction of wind power, solar power, and wave power stations throughout the country.
She introduced a carbon tax and government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles, imposed a ban on importation of cars running on fossil fuel, and reduced the annual permissible quota of lumber production.
Jaya advocates greater use of ICT for decentralised planning and e-government. She has mandated an increase in computer literacy and digital literacy classes in Melay education. She has introduced policies to adopt the use of digital currencies and contactless payments for Melayu's socialist economy. Following a study by the finance ministry, the government banned cryptocurrencies in 2014.
A 2016 reform abolished in-person voting for Melay elections, replacing it with postal voting and electronic voting. The reform was made possible by Melayu's use of a closed platform national intranet, unconnected to the global internet.
The labour law was reformed in 2018 to make the four-day workweek and six-hour day mandatory, as part of an effort to reduce energy use and consumption.
Economic growth rates have averaged around 1% throughout Jaya's tenure.
Foreign policies
Jaya has pursued a policy of improving diplomatic relations with the world and increasing Melay participation in regional cooperation, while maintaining Melayu's neutrality and promotion of socialism.
While she has presided over improved relations with the United Kingdom and Quenmin, she has resisted calls to dismantle Melayu's protectionist framework and increase foreign trade.
A popular initiative to join the Commonwealth took place in 2017. Jaya campaigned strongly against it, arguing that Commonwealth membership was incompatible with Melayu's socialist state nature and a potential threat to it. The referendum failed with 59% voting against joining.
Due to her continued support for the Communist Insurgency in the Guinean Islands, the Guinea Islands broke off relations with Melayu.
WIRS Pandemic
Jaya was praised for her strong response to the WIRS Pandemic. Early on, she adopted strict measures to combat the pandemic, including closing borders and banning all travel to Melayu, instituting lockdowns to prevent transmission, mandating social distancing and mask-wearing in public, creating a comprehensive national testing and tracing program, and deploying the military and police to deliver free food and medicine to quarantined Melay.
The measures helped Melayu record one of the lowest totals of confirmed cases and deaths from WIRS in the world. This was followed by a nationwide vaccination program, which successfully vaccinated 80% of the population in one year.
Public image
Jaya is recognised as one of the most popular and dominant Prime Ministers since Julia binti Darma. She is recognised for her distinctive appearance of ruffled hair, dark blue suit and tie, and purple trenchcoat.
Commentators have noted that beneath her humorous façade and penchant for jokes, Jaya is a very well-read politician with a strong vision for Melayu, and has frequently used humour to cause her opponents to underestimate her.
She is known for her frugal lifestyle, living in a modest apartment in Ranau and driving herself to work in her electric car. One commentator credited her with achieving an "appealing fusion of asceticism and glamour" that was key to her success in implementing her policies.
Private life
Jaya is in a long-term romantic relationship. She is a vegetarian, and stated that she used cannabis in university.
She describes herself as an agnostic, but takes part in Buddhist rituals.
Her hobbies and interests include painting, photography, and video games.