Woman’s Sufferance Continues

IT is now painfully obvious to all that despite the goal pursued by the O’Neill government to empower the country’s womenfolk through reserved seats in parliament the good prime minister cannot muster enough support to pass the legislation.
The male-dominated chamber has shown its true colours by refusing point blank to consider the bill with members abstaining from taking a firm position one way or another on the issue. On Wednesday, the Organic Law on national local level government elections (Amendment No.2) introduced by O’Neill failed to garner the absolute majority of 73 needed to have the bill passed.
Reports said as the vote was about to be taken, 21 members of parliament walked out of the chamber leaving only 58 of their colleagues who voted in favour of the bill. The only MP who opposed it by remaining in his seat and voting no was Western Governor Dr Bob Danaya. He has been against the bill since its initial introduction during the Somare era.
This was, unfortunately, a clear indication that the country, or at least parliament in any case, is not ready to accommodate women’s rights and other related issues.
O’Neill, a reformist on many fronts, tendered these words of encouragement while expressing his disappointment at the hung jury. “I am disappointed that the bill did not pass in the house today. It is clear some members harbour a view that this may not be the right time to pass this bill, which has now lapsed. But, the affirmative vote shows a strong support for this bill on the floor still. I want to encourage our women leaders and supporters of this bill not to give up. Where there is a will there is a way,” ONeill said.
This has now effectively condemned the country’s aspiring female politicians to another five-year wait before they can go to the polls and contest 22 seats that are exclusively theirs to compete for. And this will again largely depend on the bill being passed at a future sitting, post-general election, with a parliament predominantly comprising men.
Women can be just as effective leaders and in some cases a women’s touch is preferable to that of their sometimes out-of-sync and stereotypical male counterparts.
The issue of voting on conscience for women to have a legislated position in the hausman is a moral one. It is consequently one of personal belief and an individual member’s response and reason for opposing or supporting the bill must be respected.
But, having said that, the fear of having society becoming unhinged in some as yet indefinable or inexplicable way could be a reason why the majority of parliamentarians are unwilling to throw caution to the wind and vote with an open mind and heart and a guiltless conscience.
For them, the status quo will do nicely; and the thought of keeping women at their heels is appealing for cultural motives.
In theory, reserved seats in parliament is designed and intended to address an inherent and chronic imbalance in gender representation in the government of a country. This also extends to the lack of representation for a minority or an oppressed group.
PNG has had men in the seat of power since Independence.
This trend, on its own and without any outside stimulus, is unlikely to change. Melanesian society is ingrained with the attitude that women are essentially second class, or lesser or lower in importance on the social scale.
These societal norms are present in every level of society. It is perhaps all the more overt in rural communities where women are, for the most part, little more than passive participants in their villages, districts, electorates and provinces.
The crux of the reserved women’s seats is that it gives a voice for a silent majority in this country.
It allows them to be first-hand collaborators with men. It offers the unique situation of a semblance of balance.
Many in opposition to reserved seats for women will likely argue that, in essence, the act of creating seats primarily to cater for a certain gender is not only discriminatory in nature but dilutes the credibility and legitimacy of gaining a seat on merit in parliament.
If the hypocrisy of that ethos is lost on our good MPs, then there is little we can hope for in the way of change.