W

omen are poorly reprecented in the upcoming regional elections in December, with less than 10 percent of all the candidates being female.

Only 116 or 7 percent of the 1584 candidates for regional heads and deputy heads in 262 regions are women, according to Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), which analyzed the data provided by the General Elections Committee (KPU).

'€œThis confirms women are underrepresented and rarely given the chance to occupy executive positions. This is an initial picture of the challenge we face at the next simultaneous [regional] elections,'€ Perludem head Titi Anggraeni said on Sunday.

She went on to say that many factors contribued to the phenomenon. '€œThe practice of money politics that some women cannot afford or decide not to choose, tough requirements and the tendency for political parties to choose those who already have high electability despite their quality,'€ she said.

Of the 116 female candidates, 54 are running for regional head positions, while the remaining 62 for deputy positions. From the 116 female candidates, only 15 are independent nominees while the rest are endorsed by political parties.

Candidates for head positions are dominated by former local councilors, relatives of incumbents, the incumbent themselves and parties'€™ candidates.

The candidacy for deputy positions is dominated by party candidates, former local councilors, former military and police or civil servants.

'€œThey tend to nominate those who already have high electability or are already backed by strong parties. Parties don'€™t have new candidates of a high quality, that shows they haven'€™t done proper reformation,'€ Masykurudin Hafidz, coordinator of People'€™s Voter Education Network (JPPR) added.

Hafidz suggested that the government could implement an affirmative action policy that obliges each political party to ensure at least 30 percent of their total candidates were women.

'€œAt least the policy will direct the parties to not only base candidacy on electability, but also to do more [internal] reform based on integrity, administrative skill and support of women'€™s rights.'€

Dian Kartika Sari, the head of the Indonesian Women Coalition (KPI), said that this year, 10 KPI members have been registered to compete in the December elections.

'€œOut of 130 branches that we have in the regions we could only nominate 10. Nominating at the executive level is harder than at the legislative level. The capital and energy needed for campaign and poll supervision at each polls post is bigger. Going into politics is not something instant but a continuous effort for two to three years. We are still learning more about this,'€ Dian said.

Last year, 60 KPI members were elected into regional councils.

The 10 current nominees include Faida in Jember Regency, East Java, Yuni Satya Rahayu in Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, and Rita Widyasari in Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan. (rbk)