Women legislators urged to unite

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Given their minority status, women legislators have no other option than to join forces, regardless of their political allegiances, if they are to fight for women's interests.

Sri Budi Eko Wardani, an associate researcher at the Habibie Center, said on Thursday that women lawmakers also need to build networks with public and non-governmental organizations to increase pressure on the male-dominated House of Representatives.

"It won't be easy for 61 women legislators to strive for women's interests while the rest of the 550-strong House are males," Wardani told a discussion held in conjunction with Women's Day, which falls on Dec. 22.

Among the more prominent women-related issues are the lack of access to education, and the high birth mortality rate, which at 373 per 100,000 deliveries tops the standing in Southeast Asia.

Women legislators from various factions in the previous House formed a women's caucus, and this caucus played a pivotal role in getting the bill on domestic violence endorsed.

Complementing pressure from women's groups and non- governmental organizations, the caucus contributed to the House's approval of a 30 percent quota for women in politics in the new electoral bill.

Law No. 12/2003 on elections states that each political party must nominate its legislative candidates by taking into account women, who should comprise at least 30 percent of all candidates.

Although the law is not binding, the stipulation is seen as an achievement in the struggle for gender equality.

The enactment of the law resulted in the nomination of 2,507 women, or 32 percent of all legislative candidates, at the last election. But only 663 of them were placed at or near the top in the list of House member candidates.

Most of the political parties that committed to the 30 percent quota were making their debut in the legislative election.

Established parties like Golkar nominated only 165 women out of 652 candidates (28 percent), while the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) nominated 158 women out of its 558 candidates.

Women now account for 11 percent of House lawmakers since the April polls, a slight increase from 8 percent in the previous election in 1999.

Wardani suggested that the women legislators should intensify their cooperation with each other and with pressure groups outside the House to help the representative body produce legislation that was beneficial to women.