{"id":83019,"date":"2023-10-18T13:45:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T02:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=83019"},"modified":"2023-10-18T13:40:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T02:40:15","slug":"increasing-womens-representation-in-pacific-politics-give-it-time-is-not-the-answer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/increasing-womens-representation-in-pacific-politics-give-it-time-is-not-the-answer\/","title":{"rendered":"Increasing women\u2019s representation in Pacific politics: \u2018give it time\u2019 is not the answer"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Independent states in the Pacific region have the\u00a0lowest levels<\/a> of women\u2019s political representation in the world. Fewer than 7% of Pacific politicians are women, compared with 27% globally. The absence of women\u2019s voices in political decision-making has been\u00a0consistently raised<\/a> in regional forums, although progress has been slow. Yet, in November 2022, a milestone was reached: for the first time, there was at least one elected woman in every Pacific parliament.<\/p>\n

This seems to validate a common sentiment of \u2018give it time\u2019\u2014that women\u2019s political representation in the Pacific is bound to gradually increase. However, the reality is that progress is not guaranteed, and setbacks are common. Elections last year in the region\u2019s two largest states, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, illustrate this clearly.<\/p>\n

In PNG\u2019s 2022 national election, of the 3,619 candidates who contested, only 159 were women (4%). Two women\u2014Rufina Peter and Kessy Sawang\u2014were voted in. Their wins came after a five-year period with no women in the PNG parliament (2017\u20132022). Both Peter and Sawang were highly competitive candidates who had run in 2017 and performed well<\/a>, both placing third in their respective electorates (Central Provincial and Rai Coast Open).<\/p>\n

Similar to previous elections, the 2022 election was rife with electoral malfeasance, and in many electorates voters experienced intimidation and\u00a0violence<\/a>. After Peter was declared, Prime Minister James Marape acknowledged the need to improve the electoral system to make it more conducive for women, yet simultaneously squashed any hopes of introducing special measures for women,\u00a0stating<\/a>, \u2018Ms Peter has shown that you can win any election \u2026 Yes, we need to make changes in how the election is run, but Ms Peter has set the bar.\u2019 This response seems to be a dismissal of calls to institute special measures to ensure women\u2019s representation in politics, a position he has\u00a0maintained<\/a>\u00a0since becoming prime minister in 2019.<\/p>\n

Peter\u2019s and Sawang\u2019s wins were impressive personal achievements, and testaments to their individual leadership, credibility and strategic approach to political campaigning. Yet the fact remains that PNG\u2019s electoral space is hostile towards women. The number of women in parliament today is lower than it was 45 years ago, after the country\u2019s first post-independence elections.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Fiji\u2019s 2022 general election was significant because it prompted the first change of government since the 2006 military coup. Despite some concerns, the transfer of power was peaceful. Yet this democratic result was accompanied by a\u00a0substantial drop<\/a>\u00a0in the number of women in Fiji\u2019s parliament. Women made up just 55 (16%) of the 343 candidates. Following the December election, women\u2019s representation declined from 10 out of 51 MPs (19.6%) to six out of 55 MPs (10.9%). After the resignation of Rosy Akbar in February 2023, the number fell to five (9.1%).<\/p>\n

Fiji has often been\u00a0regarded<\/a>\u00a0as a positive outlier in terms of women\u2019s representation, consistently appearing at the top of regional league tables. Its strongly institutionalised political party system\u2014relatively unusual in the region\u2014and, since 2014, its proportional representation voting system, have been\u00a0viewed<\/a>\u00a0as beneficial for women candidates. It also has relatively high numbers of women in party leadership, and has had women deputy prime ministers and leaders of the opposition before (although a woman has never been appointed prime minister). Yet the 2022 election is evidence that gains in women\u2019s representation are never assured.<\/p>\n

In both the PNG and Fiji general elections, the proportion of women candidates contesting declined. This is perhaps unsurprising given that candidates in successive elections have expressed frustration with the process. In PNG, women candidates in 2017<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a02022<\/a> alleged that fraud and manipulation, along with problems with electoral administration, hurt their electoral chances. In Fiji, women candidates across multiple<\/a>\u00a0elections<\/a>\u00a0have reported vicious online harassment. A recent\u00a0study<\/a> highlighted how violence against women in politics affected women\u2019s political participation and ambition in Pacific island countries, including PNG and Fiji. This is another sign that gradual increases\u2014in either the number of women elected or the number of women contesting elections\u2014are far from guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Both Marape<\/a>\u00a0and Prime Minister\u00a0Sitiveni Rabuka<\/a>\u00a0of Fiji have acknowledged the issue of underrepresentation of women in politics. But what is the solution? Institutional measures such as gender quotas are an option, and have been successful in raising the numbers of elected women in parliaments across the world. Such measures are not frequently used in the Pacific, however, and have been subject to\u00a0backlash<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0manipulation<\/a>. Neither the Fiji nor the PNG government has shown much enthusiasm for introducing parliamentary gender quotas.<\/p>\n

But quotas are just one option in the political toolkit to increase women\u2019s representation, and throughout the region coalitions like the\u00a0Fiji Women\u2019s Forum<\/a>\u00a0and PNG\u2019s \u2018Vote Women for Change<\/a>\u2018 movement are developing innovative and locally led approaches to tackling the issue. Supporting these efforts is important, as is, crucially, maintaining pressure on the male-dominated governments of the Pacific region to ensure the underrepresentation of women in parliaments doesn\u2019t drop off the political agenda.<\/p>\n

It is not enough to sit back and wait for change to happen. The history of women\u2019s political representation in the Pacific region tells us that progress is not guaranteed\u2014it has to be guarded, and continually fought for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Independent states in the Pacific region have the\u00a0lowest levels of women\u2019s political representation in the world. Fewer than 7% of Pacific politicians are women, compared with 27% globally. 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