Golkar to field more women candidates in '97

JAKARTA (JP): Ruling political organization Golkar will field more female candidates in next year's general election for the House of Representatives and local legislatures, Secretary- General Ary Mardjono said yesterday.

Women will make up about 40 percent of all Golkar candidates, Ary was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

Although there are no statistics on the number of women serving as Golkar legislators at national and local levels, women are still greatly underrepresented in Indonesian politics.

Golkar also hopes to rejuvenate its position in the House and local assemblies, with 25 percent of all candidacies going to members of the young generation, he said, without specifying the age defining young.

Golkar chairman Harmoko last year issued a rule limiting the number of times anyone may represent Golkar in the House and local assemblies to a maximum of four.

The rule means that only 40 percent of current Golkar representatives in the national and local assemblies will be retained. There will be many new faces, Ary said.

Golkar's Central Executive Board is currently selecting the candidates it hopes to field in next year's elections. For the House of Representatives, which has 425 seats at stake, the selection starts with 60,000 names.

The central board will cut this down to 8,500, or 20 names for every seat. Their names will be sent to the regional boards who will then select 10 of the 20 names for their regions.

Ary said the regional boards are also permitted to present other names besides those proposed by the central board. (emb)