Women in Politics: Beyond Affirmative
Action
CALD holds roundtable on women in politics
From left to right: Dr. Pusadee Tamthai of the Democrat Party
of Thailand, Hon. Henedina Abad of the Liberal Party of the
Philippines, Hon. Bi-khim Hsiao, MP of the Democratic Progressive
Party of Taiwan, Hon. Men Mony Ratana, MP of Sam Rainsy Party
of Cambodia and Maria Pakpahan of the Nation Awakening Party
Indonesia |
Do women outperform men in politics? Do they bring a distinct
style to politics? What are the obstacles facing their political
participation, and how can these be overcome? These were some
of the issues raised at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF)
and Democratic Progressive Party
of Taiwan (DPP) sponsored Council
of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) roundtable on women
in politics. It was hosted by the Sam
Rainsy Party of Cambodia (SRP) and held on 14 September 2007
in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The discussion centred on practical issues helping or hindering
women’s greater participation in politics and their performance
once inside. While a lot remains to be done, women have
made significant strides in Asian politics. There are
women leaders in nations as diverse as Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Indonesia and the Philippines. Taiwan has a female
vice president. While many of Asia’s women leaders
have come from political family backgrounds, more and more are
emerging on their own, and they often seem to
be doing better than their male colleagues. The roundtable stressed
the need for more support and mentoring between women. However,
many speakers also acknowledged the positive role liberal and
progressive male leaders have played in creating opportunities
for women, sometimes in defiance of entrenched interests.
The roundtable also focused on sharing experiences among the
member parties of CALD, most of whom were represented by female
politicians such as Saumura Tiolong and Mu Sochua of SRP, Bi-Khim
Hsiao of DPP, Henedina Abad and Liwayway Chato from the Liberal
Party of the Philippines, Pusadee Tamthai from the Democrat
Party of Thailand, Ng Siew Lai from the Party
Gerakan Malaysia and Maria Pakpahan of the Nation Awakening
Party Indonesia. They produced a first draft action plan to bolster
the role of women for the consideration by the CALD Executive
Committee.
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The action plan encourages CALD to continue focussing on the
issue of women in politics. Practical steps would be to strengthen
the CALD women’s caucus and implement the
plan to create a women’s desk at the secretariat.
The task of these structures would be to continue with regular
meetings devoted to women’s issues, including training
and mentoring for a larger number of local female leaders.
One critical area would be to tap new sources of funding for female
leaders as they often do not (or do not want to) have access to
traditional sources of political funding. It also could work on
a joint policy agenda for Asian women such as how to tackle the
problem of human trafficking and on designing new organizational
structures for parties that make it easier for women to join politics.
“The CALD roundtable was an impressive success” opined
FNF Resident Representative Siegfried Herzog. “It showcased
the high calibre of modern female political leadership
in Asia. The discussions had a markedly less confrontational tone
than what you usually get in Europe or the US,” he said.
“They instead were focussed on how to move forward effectively.
Judging by the impressive and growing list of female Asian leaders,
this approach seems to be working.”
The CALD roundtable was a follow-up to its women’s
conference in Taipei in 2005 in collaboration with Liberal
International, thus joining a global initiative launched by
the National Democratic Institute
of the United States called “Win with Women.”
This time, it was a purely Asian affair.
