Women should stand for election

SINCE gaining independence, there is no law in PNG that prohibits women from contesting in elections.
Unlike some western countries where laws had to be enacted to allow women to vote and enter parliament, we have no such thing.
We inherited a refined set of laws that allowed both men and women to participate equally in everything.
Our problem is our cultural mindset.
At the speed we are going, where the majority are living in the rural areas, electing women as MPs will need time to evolve at its own pace.
One cannot speed it up by outside influence such as the women’s bills.
To change something, one needs continuous education on the subject so people can see the benefits of the change. 
Are we implying that by reser­ving seats for women, parliament will be run just like a home?
What nonsense.
It is up to the people to elect who they want.
It is unfortunate that we have only a handful of women who made it to parliament.
But the fact is they – Dame Josephine Abaijah, Nahau Rooney and Dame Carol Kidu – made it to
parliament the democratic way, through elections.
With the political impasse, I doubt the women’s bill will be passed when parliament resumes its sitting from today.
Even then, MPs will not be forced to toe the line, that is, being forced to vote along with the party leadership’s will.
Instead, the MPs will be allowed to vote on their conscience.
There is no discount in parliament and women who want to become an MP must contest in the election, which is only four months from now.
It is best to enter parliament through the ballot box.

Lawrence
Via email