THE lack of women representation in parliaments across the world remains a vexed and contentious issue.

In Fiji, this problem again surfaced for debate in response to Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica’s call for a quota system to increase women’s representation in Parliament.

Mr Kamikamica was speaking at the “Capacity building training for prospective women and youth candidates in local elections” workshop in Suva in November last year.

Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Lenora Qereqeretabua said it is important for the Fiji government to be represented at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2024 Samoa.

Speaking to The Fiji Times, Ms Qereqeretabua said it was a great time for Fiji’s inclusion as it was important to be heard as a country.

“It is important for us to be here and to be one of the many voices in the Pacific in particular when Fiji wanted to be a leader within the region,” Ms Qereqeretabua said.

IT’S the responsibility of political parties to ensure that more women take part in local and national elections, says Assistant Foreign Minister and Deputy Speaker Lenora Qereqeretabua.

Additionally, Ms Qereqeretabua said making political life safer for women was crucial.

The 2022 Fiji general election, for 55 seats in the Parliament, will take place on 14 December 2022. So far 316 provisional candidates have been named from 8 of the 9 political parties of which 55 are women—17 per cent of the total number. The figure is likely to increase with more provisional names expected to be announced soon. A political party may nominate up to 55 candidates by midday of 14 November 2022.