Women's Caucus blasted for self-interests<\/p>\n
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A group of female legislators fighting for equal political
\nopportunities in the House of Representatives has been criticized
\nfor failing to carrying out its mission due to its own political
\ninterests.<\/p>\n
Political observer Andi Mallarangeng said on Saturday that the
\nWomen Caucus, which was set up in July by 44 female legislators,
\nwas still unable to rid its members of their party's political
\ninterests.<\/p>\n
According to him, the political parties still adopted the
\npatriarchal culture, making it difficult to accept wider roles
\nfor women in politics.<\/p>\n
\"Consequently, they cannot fight for a common platform,
\nnamely, putting women's interests in the power structure,\" Andi
\ntold reporters on the sidelines of a seminar, entitled Male
\nFeminist: A Solution or Problem, at the National Library.<\/p>\n
The seminar was sponsored by the Women's Journal Foundation
\n(YJP) to celebrate the Anti-Violence Against Women Day that falls
\non Nov. 25.<\/p>\n
The caucus, whose members are made up of legislators from all
\nfactions in the House of Representatives, has demanded between 20
\npercent and 30 percent of all House seats be reserved for women.<\/p>\n
Andi said legislators were yet to move to address the issue of
\nwomen's political roles as they had not understood the function
\nof their organization.<\/p>\n
\"Through the Caucus they could have had a cross-party
\nmechanism to fight for their common platform,\" said Andy, who is
\na member of the National Election Commission (KPU).<\/p>\n
\"However, they are divided on each other and finally ignore
\ntheir fight for the common platform,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Andi urged the caucus to be independent and stay away from the
\ninterests of their respective political parties.<\/p>\n
However, Caucus member Nurdiati Akma denied Andi's criticism,
\nsaying that although her colleagues brought their respective
\nparty's interests, they tried to work the issues through.<\/p>\n
\"It's true we bring our party's interests. But if our party's
\ninterests conflict with the Caucus, we always try to work them
\nout with our respective parties,\" Nurdiati told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Nurdiati said female legislators currently only made up nine
\npercent of the total number of 500 legislators in the House. The
\nCaucus, she added, would consistently fight hard to address the
\nissue of gender imbalance in politics.<\/p>\n
Nurdiati, who is a deputy secretary of the Reform Faction in
\nthe House, said the Caucus had started to work on its agenda,
\nsuch as providing political education to the grass roots.<\/p>\n
The members have also held discussions with their respective
\nparties to formulate strategies to increase the number of women's
\nseats in the Legislature.<\/p>",
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