Women candidates show substance

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Instead of making lofty promises during the campaign, two female legislative candidates have pledged to provide their constituents with the basics -- public toilets and access to clean water.

Separately, Eva Kusuma Sundari from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Maria Pakpahan from the National Awakening Party (PKB) decried the fact the poor had limited access to clean water and public lavatories.

"That is the real need of the people; I have consulted them," Eva told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Eva, an economist who is a candidate in Malang, East Java, said she has spent Rp 8 million of her money to build artesian wells and water pumps for local people.

She built the projects in the slum area of the Sukun district in Malang and in the village of Ampel in Karangploso.

Similarly, Maria, a lawyer who is nominated from East Nusa Tenggara electorate pledged to build public toilets in the area.

Only 57 percent of the people in the province had access into sanitary facilities, Maria said. "That is a very basic need. No doubt there are diseases (there)," she said.

Both Eva and Maria are among 25 female legislative candidates who have the support of the Movement of Women Concerned for Indonesia (GPPI).

Together with the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), the GPPI recently promoted 25 women legislative candidates to the public.

Representatives from both organizations said the women's names were put forward because they had shown concern in striving for democracy, women's empowerment and education and health issues.

Eva and Maria also pledged to fight for an increase in the allocations for education and health in the annual state budget. The Constitution stipulates 20 percent of the budget should be spent on education alone, but the real amount allocated is far lower.

Maria, a graduate of the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, the Netherlands, said she would also try to reduce the mortality rates of infants and women in labor, which still stand among the highest in Southeast Asia.

Eva said data showed 63 percent of student dropouts in the East Java province were women. Women also accounted for 67 percent of those who were functionally illiterate.

"I will propose a scholarship program for women should I become a legislator. Policy-making should adopt a gender perspective, otherwise the gender gap will continue to increase," said Eva, who holds a post-graduate qualification from the University of Nottingham, in the United Kingdom.