Women candidates show substance

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.