Female politicians struggle to get off the blocks in the Solomon Islands
Source: East Asia Forum
After a 12-month delay, the 12th Solomon Islands national general elections were held on 17 April 2024. For the first time, joint elections were held, with most provincial assemblies and the Honiara City Council also going to the polls. For women, the results were mixed. Eight women were elected overall — three to national parliament, two to Honiara City Council and three to provincial assemblies — representing significant individual achievements.
As a whole, women’s representation remains low, and current institutional measures to promote women’s engagement in politics have seen limited success. But new initiatives might offer opportunities to increase women’s access to politics.
Prior to the election, there were four women incumbents in the 50-seat parliament. Two, Freda Tuki Soriacomua and Lillian Maefai, contested the 2024 elections. The remaining women members of parliament, Lanelle Tanangada and Ethel Vokia, declined to contest in 2024, with their husbands, both former members of parliament, contesting in their stead.
The ‘widows and wives’ phenomenon in Solomon Islands politics is well-documented, with a common pathway to politics for women being through association with a male spouse or relative who is a politician. The decision of half of Solomon Islands’ women members of parliament to step aside so that their husbands could contest is significant in a context where women are underrepresented, as both members of parliament and candidates. In the 2024 national elections, 20 women stood out of 334 candidates, making up less than 6 per cent of the field.
Three women were elected at the national level. Soriacomua, an Ownership Unity Responsibility Party candidate, was re-elected in Temotu Vatud, while Choylin Yim Douglas and Cathy Launa Nori, both independent candidates, won the seats of Ngella and Maringe/Kokota, respectively.
Read here the full article published by the East Asian Forum on 18 June 2024.
Image by East Asia Forum
After a 12-month delay, the 12th Solomon Islands national general elections were held on 17 April 2024. For the first time, joint elections were held, with most provincial assemblies and the Honiara City Council also going to the polls. For women, the results were mixed. Eight women were elected overall — three to national parliament, two to Honiara City Council and three to provincial assemblies — representing significant individual achievements.
As a whole, women’s representation remains low, and current institutional measures to promote women’s engagement in politics have seen limited success. But new initiatives might offer opportunities to increase women’s access to politics.
Prior to the election, there were four women incumbents in the 50-seat parliament. Two, Freda Tuki Soriacomua and Lillian Maefai, contested the 2024 elections. The remaining women members of parliament, Lanelle Tanangada and Ethel Vokia, declined to contest in 2024, with their husbands, both former members of parliament, contesting in their stead.
The ‘widows and wives’ phenomenon in Solomon Islands politics is well-documented, with a common pathway to politics for women being through association with a male spouse or relative who is a politician. The decision of half of Solomon Islands’ women members of parliament to step aside so that their husbands could contest is significant in a context where women are underrepresented, as both members of parliament and candidates. In the 2024 national elections, 20 women stood out of 334 candidates, making up less than 6 per cent of the field.
Three women were elected at the national level. Soriacomua, an Ownership Unity Responsibility Party candidate, was re-elected in Temotu Vatud, while Choylin Yim Douglas and Cathy Launa Nori, both independent candidates, won the seats of Ngella and Maringe/Kokota, respectively.
Read here the full article published by the East Asian Forum on 18 June 2024.
Image by East Asia Forum