women's political representation

IN THIS heady age of grimy corruption revelations, thanks to the ICAC merry-go-round, it's good to know there's a simple answer to end corruption in politics.

That is, to get more women elected Australia-wide, according to Lennox Head-based NSW Upper House MP Catherine Cusack.

Ms Cusack has just been elected to chair the Commonwealth Women's Parliamentary Steering Committee, and her appointment comes during a crisis point for women.

The number of female MPs is dropping; nationally the number has fallen from 254 in 2010 to 239 in 2014.

Following the elections and President Jacob Zuma's recent cabinet appointments, South Africa has missed its last opportunity - so tantalizingly close - to achieve gender parity in politics ahead of the 2015 deadline.

The 50% target for women's representation in all areas of decision-making is enshrined in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development adopted in South Africa in 2008.

Colorado Republicans, concerned about their string of statewide losses in recent years, have been making some efforts to reach out to demographic groups that have not historically backed their party.

Women were angered by the percentage allocated to their representation in the future parliament according to the new parliament law, the National Council for Women said on Thursday.

A committee formed by a presidential decree to draft this new law announced it yesterday.

Mervat Talawi, the council's head, said that the reason for this reaction from women is that approving the law in its current form is a wrong interpretation of the new constitution, a council statement said.

The Vanuatu Council of Women says the government needs to come up with more strategies to push women's political representation in the country.

The non-governmental organisation has launched a report on women's participation in politics from 2009 to now to mark National Women's Day.

The coordinator of the study, Seman Serekan, says no women being elected in the 2012 general election forced the government to introduce reserved seats for women in municipal elections.

They might not be getting their due when it comes to representation in parliament, but women have increased their participation in the voting process by nearly 10 percent in this general election, even surpassing men in eight states.

Comparatively, the male voter turnout increased to 67.17 percent from 60.24 percent last time.

Female legislative candidates grouped under the Women’s Coalition staged a rally on Saturday to protest rampant vote-buying during the recent legislative election, which they say caused many female candidates to lose.

“Our hard work was for nothing because we didn’t have money to buy votes,” said Meylina Wonatorey, a candidate from Golkar Party for the Papua Council, said in the rally in front of Aston Hotel, Jayapura, where the provincial elections commission was counting the vote.