Political parties told to keep women voters in mind

Political parties told to keep women voters in mind

JAKARTA (JP): Education, health and employment-related issues
concerning women should be put on political parties' platforms if
they wish to win over the majority of voters.

"Parties need to concentrate on issues that directly touch
women's problems such as education, violence against women,
health and reproductive rights and equal job opportunities,"
noted lawyer Nursyahbani Katjasungkana told The Jakarta Post.

Education will also have to go beyond the formal sphere to
include "civic education" to discuss issues of discrimination
against women, she said.

Nursyahbani, a member of the Legal Aid Office of the
Association of Indonesian Women for Justice (LBH-APIK), spoke at
a discussion on women and politics.

Female workers being arbitrarily fired, physically abused or
deprived of their rights are serious problems which concern many
women, she added.

"Since women make up the majority of voters -- 57 percent of
an estimated 102 million eligible voters -- it is a must for
parties to put together such a specific program on women,"
Nursyahbani noted.

The National Mandate Party (PAN) has stated that gender
equality is important in its program but never carried through on
its implementation, Nursyahbani said.

Sociologist Mely G. Tan said influential parties have "large
potential to internalize values", and could therefore make a
crucial contribution to build awareness of women's reproductive
rights.

Awareness of their rights, she added, was vital to the well-
being of both women and their children.

Azyumardi Azra, rector of the state-run Islamic studies
college in Jakarta, IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah, called for the
establishment of a political action committee for women ahead of
the June poll.

"This kind of committee would be effective as they could
function in lobbying related parties," he said.

Mely said parties should be bold to fight for women's issues
during the reform era because women "mostly suffer from unjust
domination and a patriarchal system".

Nursyahbani warned of the possibility of women boycotting the
next election, referring to the recent statement of widows in
North Aceh. Dozens of women threatened to boycott the polls if
rights abuses resulting in torture, abduction and killing under
the 10-year military operation were not settled.

Political professor Chusnul Mar'iyah said there were parties
able to win over women voters, but conflicts of interests posed
constraints. She said although the National Mandate Party
advocated gender equality in its programs, chairman Amien Rais
nevertheless once stated that women could only become president
if no adequate men were found. (edt)