Undemocratic to reserve seats

WOMEN play an important role in the development of PNG.
They are good managers at home and they can read between the lines while many men are unable to do that.
This basically shows wo­men consider all angles before making decisions.
As the saying goes, behind every man’s success is a woman.
There is nothing wrong with supporting women since they play an important role.
However, if the proposed bill of the 22 reserved seats for women is passed, then the question that arises is does democracy exist in PNG?
The Constitution states we are a democratic nation.
But where is the democracy if 22 seats were to be reserved for women?
The essence of equality and participation will be thrown out of the window.
Women have the right to compete with their male counterparts in their res­pective electorates during elections and earn their rights to be called MPs after winning the mandate of the people.
Women must not be seen as a weaker sex or incapable of competing with their male counterparts.
We have records of wo­men successfully compe­ting against their male counterparts and became MPs. They include Dame Josephine Abaijah, Nahau Rooney and Dame Carol Kidu.
If they have earned the respect of the people, then there should not be any reasons as to why the rest of the women should not compete against the men.
As such, reserving 22 seats for women is undemocratic.

Paul Nii
Port Moresby