Gelu urges parties to back women candidates

POLITICAL parties have been urged to endorse women candidates in this year’s general election.
Registrar of political parties Dr Alphonse Gelu said there was a need for female representation in politics and Parliament.
Gelu said more women taking part in politics should ensure a more “equal representation of women in Parliament”.
“Through a mentoring programme for potential women candidates, we hope that more political parties will attend the national programme in Alotau next week (Jan 17-21), to see if they can include one of the women in their party,” he said.
“As it is, there is no equality.
“That is why we are preparing the women for the elections.
“We told them that there was no magic formula to winning.
“They have to compete like everyone else.
“But the thing is we want them to start preparing themselves, to get them to be affiliated to political parties.”
Gelu said the message given to women was to win support and votes on the messages and policies.
“It is undemocratic to not have a woman’s voice in Parliament,” he said.
“How can we have women in this country but none in Parliament, who will speak on their behalf?
“The men can, but the men don’t think like women.
“We tell the participating women to find a strong message they want to get across to the people and use that message.”
Gelu said they received K1 million last year from the Department of National Planning and Monitoring for the mentoring programme.