Centers seek quota for women in govt

JAKARTA (JP): Eighty women's studies centers around the country have joined forces to demand that women be given a proportional representation in the government.

Representatives of the centers also rejected the plan by certain Islamic organizations to bar women from becoming the country's president.

"We reject the view that the president or Indonesian leaders must be male because it contravenes principles of human rights and the national constitution," the group said in a joint statement issued at their meeting in Bogor on Nov. 25.

"We want the political rights of women to be fully respected. We believe that there should be a proportional quota of women in both the executive and legislative branches of the government," the groups said in a statement made public on Tuesday.

They did not state the exact proportion, but official statistics show that 51 percent of the country's population is female.

The Indonesian Ulemas Council, the country's highest Islamic organization, has come under strong pressure from some Islamic organizations to issue an edict announcing that women should not be allowed to become the country's president.

The issue was raised by these groups during last month's Islamic national congress, but they failed to secure enough support to have the stipulation included in the final statement issued by the congress.

There are only two female ministers currently serving in President B.J. Habibie's cabinet, and women make up less than 10 percent of members in the House of Representatives.

Megawati Soekarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's first president Sukarno and the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Perjuangan, is seen as one of the strongest contenders in next year's presidential election.

The centers called for the establishment of watchdog organizations to prevent discriminative and unjust practices against women both at national and local levels. They said they were willing to use their expertise to help these groups.

They also called on the government to investigate cases of rape in Aceh, Jakarta, East Timor, Irian Jaya, Surakarta (Solo), Surabaya and elsewhere, including Indonesian workers abroad. (emb)