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Women and politics – the great divide
ELECTION 2007 will bring no changes
to the election of women to the Papua New Guinean National
Parliament.
That is the conclusion we have drawn from the few announcements
made by political parties to date on the issue of women
candidates.
Of the parties likely to attract the majority of voters, only two
have so far signalled their intentions.
One has apparently nominated four women and the other, three.
Privately an executive from one of those parties admitted that the
party leaders had no intentions of endorsing any but women with
the highest public or political profiles.
The party was determined to gain the maximum number of votes so
that they could govern PNG either alone or in coalition with
another major party.
Such an admission is a direct rebuff to every woman in this
country.
It puts forward a no-win situation that cannot be altered, since
in each future election the number of “high profile” women will
remain constant or decrease.
Statements of that kind bring home the stark reality facing women
seeking to contest the national election.
And it adds further credence to demands to have seats set aside
for women only.
Last year, The National floated the idea of converting the
regional seats into reserved seats for women.
And while the regional seats remain with us for another term, the
intention is to abolish them in the future.
Let’s be clear about our proposal. We do not subscribe to the idea
of having women appointed without election to the House.
But there is no need for that, if representatives for the regional
seats were to be elected from among only women candidates.
The method of election could be devised in a number of ways. It
might be thought better to allow only women to vote for one of
their number in each of the 20 regional seats.
Or it may be seen as reasonable that men should also vote for the
women nominees.
In either case, the Parliament would at last have a reasonable
number of women Members, and the people would have some assurance
that women’s voices would be heard and their input applied to the
legislation before the House.
Nobody suggests that the proposal is the best choice.
That would be for women to stand openly in each and every seat in
PNG, and be elected wherever the voters saw them as the best
choice.
Unfortunately, given the snail’s pace of gender equality and the
demonstrated lack of sincerity of every government since
independence towards the role of women, that desirable scenario
remains as remote as the Arctic circle.
On International Women’s Day, just a fortnight ago, most PNG
leaders espoused the
usual enthusiastic double-speak about the magnificent role of PNG
women.
Yet since then, less than half a dozen women have been endorsed to
contest all the seats in the country.
We must be among the most conservative people in the developing
world.
Suggest to the average party political hack that women would make
excellent governors in the provinces, and you will be greeted by a
look of blank incomprehension.
The idea has simply never been entertained and the advantages to
be gained by the population have yet to be examined, we suspect,
by any PNG political party.
Much the same goes for women occupying the senior positions in
government departments and statutory authorities.
Under the present government, these appointments are at an
all-time low, yet the hollow public re-assurances to women of
their importance to the nation continue.
We urge the present and future PNG governments to discard their
indefensible pre-conceptions about the political and leadership
abilities of women and recognise the huge untapped wealth that is
available.
Perhaps if men had made a magnificent job of creating and
developing this nation, perhaps if we could walk the streets
without fear of being attacked and perhaps if an honourable and
sustainable peace ruled the land, there might be less reason to
call upon women.
In the absence of those positives, it seems simply logical that
men should seek to involve women in our country’s decision-making
processes at all levels.
 
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