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number of political parties in North Sumatra have been encouraging women to participate as candidates in the upcoming regent and mayoral elections set to be conducted simultaneously in 23 regions across the province.

The encouragement was given especially because in North Sumatra only one woman has ever held the post of a regent or mayor '€” former Tebing Tinggi mayor Rohani Darus Daniel who served the 1990-2000 term of office.

In a bid to give women more opportunities to join the regional head race, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle'€™s (PDI-P) North Sumatra branch will keep open female candidate registration until May 15, 2015, although registration in regency and city branches has closed.

'€œWe do this as a form of support for women to race for the regional head posts,'€ the party'€™s provincial branch secretary Soetarto told The Jakarta Post, Monday.

Soetarto said that woman candidates had the potential to win elections in North Sumatra especially because women were greater in number compared to men.

Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed that North Sumatra had a population of 6,623,715 women and 6,591,686 men.

The problem, according to Soetarto, was that the province had a limited number of women contending in regional elections.

Providing an example, Soetarto said that of the 166 candidates who applied through his party for a candidacy in one of the province'€™s 23 regions, only seven were women. All seven, except Camelia Panduwinata Lubis from Jakarta, were local candidates.

Among woman candidates with the potential to win elections, Soetarto said, were Simalungun deputy regent Murniati; Karo regency legislative councilor Siti Aminah Perangin-angin; and Herma Veva, a councilor with the Tajung Balai city legislative council.

'€œI am sure they all have a relatively big chance of winning the election in their respective regions. It'€™s not because they are given the chance but more because they have good capacity, integrity and electability,'€ Soetarto said.

Similarly, the Nasdem Party'€™s North Sumatra secretary Iskandar also expressed concern that of the 143 candidates applying for candidacy in regional elections through his party, only 10 percent were women.

'€œWe have very few women applying. In fact, we want to have women elected as regents or mayors in the upcoming election,'€ Iskandar said.

He said that among female candidates with the opportunity to win the elections in their respective regions were House of Representatives lawmaker Meutia Hafid of Binjai, as well as Murniati.

Camelia, one of the candidates set to compete for the post of Medan mayor, said she had registered herself as a candidate through the PDI-P.

'€œI was attracted to come forward to be a candidate in the Medan mayoral election because I want to build the city where I was born,'€ said Camelia, Medan'€™s 2005 antidrug ambassador.

Camelia said it was not easy to become a regional head, especially in Medan where she would have tight competition. Yet, she said, it would always be God who decided the winner.

'€œI surrender to God. Sometimes someone who looks ordinary, like the way people saw [President Joko] '€œJokowi'€ [Widodo] previously, in the end is the winner,'€ Camelia said.