Elections

WOMEN in the country are likely to win overwhelming voters' confidence in the coming General Elections if the findings of a recent survey are anything to go by.

Getting Afghan women voter cards has proven a challenge for the Independent Election Commission (IEC), which has made female turnout a top priority this election cycle, but southern Helmand province is said to be an especially challenging environment due to strict traditional values and the lack of female registration employees.

While women remain under-represented in elections, an interesting new dimension has emerged from the first analysis of 50 years of Assembly election data. India’s backward States systematically put up more female candidates than the developed southern States. Yet, female candidates in developed States are more likely to win.

We are so fortunate to have been able to interview Betsy Hodges, who is currently running for Mayor of Minneapolis. She's been the representation for Ward 13 on the Minneapolis City Council for seven years, during which time she has chaired the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and the Ways & Means Committee. The mayoral race is coming to a close (get out and vote November 5th if you live in Minneapolis!), so we're thankful that Ms. Hodges took the time to answer some of our questions about her political career.

A young Fijian woman who intends to stand in the Fiji elections says she has received threats, including threats of rape, on social media.

Roshika Deo is standing as an independent candidate in next year's promised elections.

Ms Deo who has been using the internet as a campaigning tool, has told Pacific Beat she's been the subject of vicious personal attacks.

Khadija Ghaznawi says she knows exactly how to end the long-simmering conflict in Afghanistan: build more factories. A logistics company owner by profession and peace activist on the side, Ghaznawi says that if the government had been diligent about creating more jobs for Afghans, militants would have laid down their arms already.

 We invite our users to read the complete article published October 24 2013