Political Parties

Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) Women wing welcomes Social Development Minister Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom’s suggestion that there should generally be 40 per cent women involvement in the positions of power.

SPDP Women deputy chief Teresa Udam said they supported the call by Mawan, who is also SPDP president for more women leaders and women representation in decision-making processes.

If you knew nothing else about the Republican Party, two days at the Republican National Committee's Summer Meeting would convince you that it's a party taking its recovery seriously, having bottomed out with embarrassing polling and technological failures in the fall of 2012, along with major deficits in appeal to key demographic groups...

The Georgetown law student Rush Limbaugh labeled a "slut" and "prostitute" because of her comments before congressional leaders about insurance coverage of contraception in 2012 has joined a training program for Democratic women with ambitions of running for public office. Sandra Fluke, then a student at the Catholic university, objected to not being able to acquire birth control through the university's plan.

Fluke, a native of Pennsylvania, will be representing Emerge California's class of 2014. She hopes to get women more active in California politics.

India may boast a woman President, Prime Minister and Speaker, but when it comes to selecting candidates, key political parties still have a long way to go.

In the past 10 years, only 7 per cent or 4,148 candidates out of the 62,847 candidates were women, says an analysis. Of these, 675 won to become MPs or MLAs.

The 30 percent quota requirement for women was legally reaffirmed by the Constitutional Court earlier this year.

This is certainly good news for women hoping to run for seats in the upcoming legislative election, as the ruling has reinforced the role of women in public policy making.

But, almost all political parties have complained about the difficulties in reaching the quota.