Bill talks adjourned over quota for women

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Deliberation on a political party bill was adjourned until Monday after some members of a House special committee in charge of the draft protested a decision made during closed-door meetings to drop articles that ensure women fill 30 percent of the seats in legislative bodies.

Committee members agreed earlier to insert an article stating that women should have 30 percent of the legislative posts, but it was dropped after a series of closed-door meetings held by committee leaders.

"I question this decision. Why, after a series of closed-door meetings, has that article been deleted?" legislator Nurdiati Akma of the Reform faction asked during a meeting on Friday.

Nurdiati also questioned a clause in the explanation section suggesting that gender equality could be achieved through the improvement of quantity and quality of women on all boards of political parties.

"This is annoying. I want an explanation," she said.

But fellow female legislator Eka Komariah Kuncoro of Golkar said that she could accept the decision, adding that all she needed was the commitment of political parties and the government to ensure that women were represented in politics.

Responding to the protest, chairman of special committee for political parties bill Yahya Zaini said that this issue would be discussed at the next meeting.

Currently, the number of women in politics is low. The non- governmental organization, the Network of Women and Politics, noted that the last eight general elections, from 1955 to 1999, showed that the number of women in legislative bodies was 8.8 percent in the House of Representatives (DPR), 6 percent in the Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD I) and 2.5 percent in the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD II).

Although the incumbent president is a woman, her ascent to the presidential post did not inspire women to take an active role in the country's political scene.

Friday's meeting was supposed to close deliberations on the political party bill, but because legislators failed to reach an agreement on some issues, including that on women in politics, the meeting was adjourned until Monday.

All factions except for the National Awakening Party (FKB) insist on including two decrees of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for consideration in the political party bill.

The FKB opposed the move, saying that there was no need to insert them.

The two decrees are TAP XXV/MPRS/1966 on the dissolution of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the restriction of communism, Marxism/Leninism and TAP X/MPR/2001 on the annual report of state institutions.

The political party bill also stipulates that the supervision of political parties will be carried out by three different institutions: the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights; the General Elections Commission (KPU); and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights will be responsible for examining the administrative requirements of political parties, while the KPU will be authorized to assess the financial reports of political parties and the reports on campaign funds.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, on the other hand, will be responsible for assessing possible violations of rules on the activities, fund sources and ideologies of political parties.