Calls mount for quota for women legislators<\/p>\n
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In an effort to more accurately represent the nation in political
\ndecisions, Minister of Women's Empowerment Sri Redjeki Sumaryoto,
\nseveral female legislators and many more activists have all
\ndemanded that between 20 to 30 percent of legislative seats be
\nallocated for women.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a seminar on the improvement of women's
\nparticipation in politics through political bills here on Monday,
\nthey said such a quota should be clearly stipulated in the draft
\nlaws to be deliberated by the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
\"To push for political parties' commitment to increase the
\npercentage of women in the Indonesian legislative bodies, there
\nshould be a provision on the matter in the bill on political
\nparties,\" Sri said.<\/p>\n
She proposed that political parties give women a 30 percent
\nquota when they submitted their respective lists of legislative
\ncandidates during the 2004 General Election.<\/p>\n
Her predecessor Khofifah Indar Parawansyah made a similar
\nsuggestion that women should be allotted 30 percent of the seats
\nin the legislative and executive bodies.<\/p>\n
However, the proposal was rejected by most political parties.<\/p>\n
Also, President Megawati Soekarnoputri objected to the idea of
\nmaking a quota for women. She preferred a merit system that would
\nrequire women to compete fairly with men to get into political
\npositions.<\/p>\n
Sri, nevertheless, argued that with a larger number of women
\ninvolved in the nation's decision-making process, it would change
\nthe focus of many political discussions.<\/p>\n
\"The clearest impact would be the extension of the political
\nscope into (the debate on) problems which have not initially been
\nregarded as political issues, such as children's welfare and
\nother social affairs,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"The political life will be more 'human' as women will
\nconcentrate more on issues of education, housing, environment and
\nother social welfare issues,\" she added.<\/p>\n
Article 6 of the bill on political parties stipulates that the
\nrecruitment for political jobs must be conducted through a
\n\"democratic mechanism by taking gender equality into account.\"<\/p>\n
Irma Alamsyah, an expert staff member dealing with law and
\nwomen's empowerment affairs at Sri's office, said, during the
\nsame seminar, that the bill should specify a minimum number of
\npolitical seats for women.<\/p>\n
\"The stipulation on legal guarantees for women's political
\nparticipation should clearly be included in the law to prevent a
\nrepeat of false promises by political parties,\" she added.<\/p>\n
Similarly, independent activists and experts who attended the
\nsame seminar, organized by the 46-member Caucus of Women in the
\nIndonesian Legislature, also raised the issue of a quota of
\nlegislative seats for women in the next elections.<\/p>\n
They said the quota should not be less than 20 percent of the
\nnumber of legislative candidates nominated by each political
\nparty.<\/p>\n
Valina Singka Subekti, among the activists, supported demands
\nthat women's participation in politics should clearly be
\nguaranteed in political laws.<\/p>\n
Valina and Irma said the political bills should also ensure
\nthat parties should be given penalties if they failed to allocate
\na certain number of seats for women.<\/p>\n
Valina dismissed widespread claims that women were not
\nprepared to fill positions in legislative and executive bodies
\ndue to what many claimed was a lack of skill or professionalism.<\/p>\n
She lamented the fact that many credible, independent female
\nactivists were still reluctant to join political parties to
\nbecome legislators because of their distrust of the male-
\ndominated legislative bodies.<\/p>\n
A similar opinion was shared by Sjamsiah Ahmad, a researcher
\nfrom the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), who spoke at
\nthe same seminar.<\/p>\n
She said the political bills should clearly \"guarantee equal
\naccess and fair representation\" for women in the decision-making
\nprocess within political parties.<\/p>",
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