Elections
East Java, home to 31 million voters and a traditional electoral bellwether, voted for Jokowi, as the outgoing leader is popularly known, in the last two elections.
The three contenders for the top job – Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto and former regional governors Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan – had all sought her endorsement. After weeks of deliberations, on January 10, Khofifah threw her support behind Prabowo, the former military general, who leads in polls and rose through the powerful military under the patronage of the late dictator Suharto.
Click here to read the full article published by South China Morning Post on 22 January 2024.
Image by South China Morning Post
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The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Ghana) has expressed their bitter feelings over the neglect of women in leading political roles in Ghana.
The women lawyers, speaking in an interview on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, advocated the need and significance of having a female as Running Mate to the presidential candidates of the political parties, particularly the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress.
They believe it is about time a female was considered for such position, stressing women in leadership roles contribute largely to national development.
Click here to read the full article published by Peace FM Online on 22 January 2024.
Image by Peace FM Online
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NASHUA, New Hampshire — Nikki Haley has already gone further than any Republican woman before her who ran for president.
For months, she has joked about the high heels she wears, and, without fail, blasts a post-rally soundtrack of “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Sheryl Crow’s “Woman in the White House.” In every early nominating and Super Tuesday state, Haley has established a “Women for Nikki” chapter — groups of female volunteers who urge their friends and neighbors, including those who are not ordinarily politically active, to get behind the former South Carolina governor.
But with Haley running behind Donald Trump by double digits in New Hampshire, and only polling about even with him among women — she is also testing the limits of how much voters care.
Click here to read the full article published by Politico on 22 January 2024.
There’s no avoiding it: 2024 is a presidential election year.
President Joe Biden will square off against a Republican challenger (most likely former President Donald Trump, if polls are to be believed). And it’s already shaping up to be a charged race in an already-charged atmosphere. Hot-button issues like abortion, domestic economic woes and foreign wars, which are already inflaming Americans, loom large as part of voters’ calculus as well.
When it comes to women in politics, however, Americans by and large aren’t feeling much of anything. A Pew Research Center poll published last fall revealed that a 64% majority of Americans aren’t concerned about having a woman president, and roughly half are unbothered by the lack of representation for women in elected office overall.
Click here to read the full article published by The Story Exchange on 22 January 2024.
Image source: The Story Exchange
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As part of its commitment to enhancing gender equality and fighting sexism against women candidates and local office holders, the Congress launched, on 18 January 2024, a practical Guide for women and men on preventing and combatting sexism in local politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
More than 30 representatives of local authorities, entity and state-level institutions, and civil society organizations attended the online launch of the Guide, a timely resource in view of the 2024 local elections in the country. Opening the event, the Congress Thematic Spokesperson on Gender Equality, Eirini Dourou (Greece, SOC/G/PD), emphasized that “gender equality and women’s empowerment is needed to build cohesive, resilient communities and promote the respect of fundamental rights at local level”.
The Guide provides insights on how to identify sexism, and details appropriate measures for fostering a more gender-inclusive institutional culture and greater equality at local level. Participants of the launch event also learned about the overall work of the Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo on enhancing gender equality, including through its action on combating digital and sexual violence against women, in implementing the standards set by the Istanbul Convention which Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified in 2013.
Click here to read the full article published by the Council of Europe on 22 January 2024.
Image by The Council of Europe
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In the 2019 general elections, Indonesian voters elected 118 women to the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR). Although an increase from 2014, when just 97 women were elected, women still only account for 21 per cent of the 575-member parliament. That means women’s political representation in Indonesia remains lower than the 30 per cent candidate quota imposed by the Law on Elections No. 10, 2008.
There are several factors frustrating women’s political representation including voter beliefs about women’s leadership, gendered processes of candidate selection in political parties and the low numbers of women holding senior positions in the civil service.
However, the possibility of improving women’s political representation in the upcoming February 2024 elections will also depend on overcoming arguably the biggest impediment to their election: money.
Click here to read the full article published by the University of Melbourne on 16 January 2024.
Image source: University of Melbourne
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