Detected women politicians keep fighting

A. Junaidi, Jakarta

Although women politicians who missed out on seats in the House of Representatives have accepted their failure, they have vowed to continue their fight for the political rights of women.

Only 61 of around 2,500 women legislative candidates made it to the House following the April 5 polls, or only 11 percent of the 550 elected lawmakers. The percentage is far from the 30 percent quota for women recommended by Law 12/2003 on general elections.

Among those who failed to secure a House seat were Miranty Abidin, deputy chairwoman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Eva K. Sundari of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), movie actress Nurul Arifin of the Golkar Party and Maria Ulfah of the National Awakening Party (PKB).

"We (women politicians) are keeping in touch with each other and continuing our struggle in politics," Miranty, who was nominated for the Jakarta electoral district, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Many of the women legislative candidates who were denied entry to the legislature have joined the Indonesian Women's Politicians Caucus (KPPI) and pledged to remain active in their respective political parties.

Miranty said the women politicians had promised to support colleagues who had secured House seats in the form of assistance they would need in dealing with bills related to women.

"We have identified several bills that affect women currently in the House. We will help our friends in the House prepare for bill deliberations," Miranty, who is the president of Fortune public relations and advertising firm, said.

Many non-governmental organizations are pushing for the endorsement of bills and review of laws deemed to inadequately address women's rights, including the bills on domestic violence and on migrant worker protection and laws on marriage and on health.

Eva, an economist in East Java, agreed with Miranty, saying she would continue helping PDI-P promote women's rights.

"I was often called by my party colleagues to share their disappointment with the election results. I promised to help them evaluate what went wrong with us," Eva said.

Meanwhile, Maria Ulfah said she would resume her social activities besides contributing ideas to the party.

Maria chairs Fatayat, the women's wing of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

Both Maria and Eva said they spent over Rp 100 million (US$11,000) each to buy party paraphernalia and finance gatherings with their supporters.

Separately, Nursanita Nasution from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), who was elected a House member, agreed that women politicians should not give up but should continue their political activities.

"I welcome advice and assistance from women politicians who failed to secure legislative seats," said Nursanita, who represents the Jakarta electoral district.

Many women politicians secured more votes than their male counterparts, but did not win seats only because they were placed behind the men on party priority lists. The Elections Law says a party has the right to select their representatives in the legislative bodies in the case of candidates failing to garner the minimum number of votes.

Ani Sutjipto of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) said the women legislative candidates had been robbed of their seats.

"There should be changes to the Elections Law and political parties' appreciation of women politicians," Ani, who is a lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said.

Women's representation in the House of Representatives: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Term number of women number of men ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1950 - 1955 9 (3.8%) 236 (96.2%) 1955 - 1960 17 (6.3%) 272 (93.7%) 1956 - 1959 25 (5.1%) 488 (94.9%) 1971 - 1977 36 (7.8%) 460 (92.2%) 1977 - 1982 29 (6.3%) 460 (93.7%) 1982 - 1987 39 (8.5%) 460 (91.5%) 1987 - 1992 65 (13%) 500 (87%) 1992 - 1997 62 (12.5%) 500 (87.5%) 1997 - 1999 54 (10.8%) 500 (89.2%) 1999 - 2004 46 (9%) 500 (91%) 2004 - 2009 61 (11%) 489 (89%) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Cetro