Kekelina Pelita
Kekelina Pelita | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| 20th Prime Minister of Uskad | |
| Assumed office 28 October 2024 | |
| President | |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Peter Jasubulu |
| Leader of the Progressive Workers' Party | |
| Assumed office 28 October 2024 | |
| Deputy | Kalatma Hampan |
| Preceded by | Peter Jasubulu |
| Minister of Equalities and Native Uskadian Affairs | |
| In office 9 March 2022 – 27 October 2024 | |
| Prime Minister |
|
| Deputy | Lakanata Traka |
| Preceded by | Aksan Ekerata |
| Succeeded by | Maman Kalatana |
| Member of Parliament for Tepana Valley West | |
| Assumed office 21 October 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Panta Lakala |
| Majority | 8,623 (22.5%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 January 1984 Tehumyas, SCT |
| Political party | Progressive Workers' Party |
| Residence | Governor's Residence, Tehumyas |
| Occupation | Politician |
Kekelina Kartasasmita Matalata Pelita (born 12 January 1984) is an Uskadian politician and former trade unionist who is the incumbent Prime Minister of Uskad and Leader of the Progressive Workers’ Party since 2024. She has been Member of Parliament for Tepana Valley West since 2014. She is the third woman to serve as Prime Minister of Uskad. She previously served as Minister of Equalities and Native Uskadian Affairsfrom 2022 to 2024. She also held various junior ministerial positions during the Sarbalsta ministry (2019-2022), She is the second youngest person to serve as Prime Minister, behind her predecessor, Peter Jasubulu. She identifies herself as a Sutiknoite, on the left of the party.
Born and raised in Tehumyas to a Javanese Native Uskadian mother and a Buginese Alezian father, Pelita had a working-class upbringing, and is the first prime minister without any academic qualifications. She later worked for the Congress of Uskadian Trade Unions, and later joined the Progressive Workers’ Party. She continued her work as a union official, and was later elected as an MP to the PWP safe seat of Tepana Valley West in 2014.
She was later appointed to the shadow ministry of Penny Haranta, who served as PWP leader from 2014 to 2017, ewhen she was ousted in a leadership contest by William Sarbalsta. She continued to serve in the shadow cabinet until the PWP’s victory in the 2019 general election. She served as Assistant Minister for Mental Health, before being promoted to the Minister of Equalities and Native Uskadian Affairs. She later became Prime Minister in 2024, after her surprise election as PWP leader after the death of incumbent leader and prime minister Peter Jasubulu.
Under her leadership, the PWP has shifted towards the left, though she still maintained Sasantaists in her cabinet. She continued most of her predecessor's policies. Her premiership was marked by major LGBTQ rights reforms, intervention in Guarntura and the restoration of Uskad's nuclear deterrent, which was opposed by many in her party. She later called a snap general election after rifts with her cabinet partners, Initiative. In foreign policy, her government staunchly supported Ukraine and Palestine, and Uskad was one of the first countries to recognise the HTS-led Syrian Transitional Government.
Early life and education
Pelita was born in Tehumyas General Hospital