Women demand recognition in politics<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Gender-biased politics in Indonesia could be substantially
\nchanged if political parties were required to let women make up
\n30 percent of legislative candidates, analysts said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
They demanded that the proposal be accommodated in the general
\nelections bill now being deliberated in the House of
\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n
Chusnul Mar'iyah, Smita Notosusanto and Andi Mallarangeng were
\nof the opinion that such a quota was the minimum requirement if
\nIndonesia was to promote the role of women in politics and the
\nhigh-level decision-making processes.<\/p>\n
"The quota is a must for women. We want the government and
\nlegislators to adopt it as part of an affirmative action
\napproach," Chusnul told reporters after a seminar held in
\nconjunction with the celebration of noted activist Saparinah
\nSadli's 75th birthday.<\/p>\n
Given such a move, women could contribute their ideas to the
\ndeliberation process and avoid discriminative articles being
\ninserted into bills.<\/p>\n
Deliberation of the electoral bill began on Thursday but the
\ndebate with the government will only start on Monday.<\/p>\n
The bill, expected to be passed into law later this year, does
\nnot provide for a quota for women candidates in elections.<\/p>\n
Chusnul said that at present women legislators in regency and
\nprovincial councils accounted for around 2 percent to 3 percent
\nof the total number of legislators.<\/p>\n
"The highest percentage is about 12.5 percent in a place in
\nSumatra. Bali has no women legislators in the provincial
\nlegislative council," Chusnul said.<\/p>\n
At the national level, women only accounted for 9 percent of
\nthe total legislators in spite of the fact that they made up more
\nthan 50 percent of the total voters.<\/p>\n
Women's activists have repeatedly criticized the small number
\nof woman involved in the political parties and the high level
\ndecision-making processes. This was due to various reasons, they
\nsaid, including lack of access, networking, education and
\ncultural support.<\/p>\n
In the past, women were usually encouraged to involve
\nthemselves in social activities such as through the Organization
\nfor Family Welfare (PKK), which activists claimed to be part of
\nthe systematic marginalization of women in politics.<\/p>\n
Supporting women's long-standing demands, Andi said women
\ndeserved a greater role to make amends for their marginalization
\nin the past.<\/p>\n
"We agree that we must help the weak, the marginalized.
\nTherefore, women deserve affirmative action, and that's the job
\nof the state," he said.<\/p>\n
Andi is also one of the founders of the Unity, Democracy and
\nNationhood Party which was established last month, along with
\nRyaas Rasyid.<\/p>\n
But Andi criticized women for their reluctance to become
\ndeeply involved in politics.<\/p>\n
"We really need more women in politics," he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Smita said women activists would step up their
\ncampaign across the country to push legislators to pass an
\nelectoral law that required 30 percent of legislative candidates
\nto be women.<\/p>\n
Without such a quota, she said, many policies would only
\ndisadvantage women.<\/p>\n
"At present, we see that many regencies fail to involve women
\nin politics. This has resulted in policies that are harmful to
\nwomen," she said.<\/p>\n
Citing an example, she said West Sumatra, South Sulawesi and
\nWest Nusa Tenggara had implemented discriminatory policies by
\nbanning women from going out after 9 p.m.<\/p>\n
She also suggested transparent criteria for the selection of
\nlegislative candidates in the 2004 elections, thus creating fair
\ncompetition between men and women.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/women-demand-recognition-in-politics-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}