'Let women show they don't belong at home'

With the Jan. 19 deadline approaching for some 24 political parties to resubmit their lists of legislative candidate, there is concern that not all of the parties will be able to meet the 30 percent quota for women candidates for the April 5 general election. But even those political parties that have met this quota placed most of their women candidates at the bottom of their lists. The Jakarta Post spoke with some city residents about this issue.

Rita, 35, sells soft drinks near Monas in Central Jakarta. She lives in Bekasi with her husband and three-year-old daughter:

Good for them, those women politicians and legislative candidates, I pray for their success! Let them show that women today do not just belong in the kitchen and the house.

We shouldn't underestimate those female entertainers who want to be legislators .... Give them a chance to show what they have inside their heads and to defend us women.

I hope the next president is a woman, but I won't vote for Megawati because she has failed in her duty.

Zaky Mahendra Putra, 25, is a former student activist who now works at a printing company in Central Jakarta. He lives in Depok:

I think it's great to have a policy to help women compete with the men, as many of the interests of women are not being accommodated in the legislative councils.

However, there are several problems with the implementation of the policy, because it seems to me that men are not ready for women to play a larger role in politics. For example, there are few women's names at the top of the lists of legislative candidates, even for the big three parties.

Another possible problem is that not many women can do the job because they have had to stay at home for so long taking care of the domestic duties. The limited stock of capable women contributes to their lack of competitiveness against the men.

--The Jakarta Post