Four parties short on female reps

Sat, 10/04/2008 11:33 AM  |  National

JAKARTA: The General Elections Commission (KPU) has announced that four political parties have failed to meet a law requiring that women constitute at least 30 percent of a party's legislative candidates.

The four parties are the Patriot Party, which submitted a list that is 19 percent made up of women, the Development Unity Party, the Great Indonesian Movement Party and the National People's Awareness Party, each with 27 percent.

General Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) member Wahidah Suaib said the KPU should announce to the public the parties that failed to uphold the 2008 Legislative Election Law.

"The law does not set any sanctions for parties but the public can impose moral sanctions, such as by not voting for the parties," she said.

KPU data shows that the Indonesian Workers and Employers Party has the highest ratio of women legislative candidates, with 275 candidates, or 48 percent. -- JP

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