#Women #fight #seats #PNG #parliament
Women are fighting for at least one seat in Papua New Guinea’s male-dominated parliament when voting begins Monday in a mountainous, forest-covered country scarred by gender-based violence.
Prime Minister James Marape is resisting a challenge from his predecessor Peter O’Neill to lead this resource-rich but poverty-stricken Pacific island for the next five years.
Whoever wins, the new leader will have to cobble together a coalition government, analysts say.
However, women hope to have only one vote in the 118-seat parliament.
In the nearly 50 years since Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia, only seven women have ever secured a seat, and not one in the last election in 2017.
“A lot of us really feel like we have a great opportunity,” said Sylvia Pascoe, one of 142 women among the nearly 3,500 candidates in that election.
“Not just because the timing is right, but because we’ve spent our lives building ourselves to this moment.”
Statistics on women’s experiences in the country are alarming: According to a national survey conducted four years ago, 63 percent have faced physical, sexual or emotional violence at the hands of their spouse.
At least 70 percent of men and women agreed that a man can hit his wife under at least one of the following circumstances: when she burns food, fights, goes out without telling her husband, refuses sex, or neglects her children.
– ‘bold’ –
But Pascoe said women are increasingly taking leadership roles in churches, sports and youth groups, and that the “drought” in women’s representation in politics has prompted a shift in sentiment ahead of the election.
“In the last election, there was nobody out there who really stood up for women,” she told AFP, but women now expressed a desire to vote for their fellow wives and youth groups sang songs in support of their candidacy.
“People only saw men as leaders. Then suddenly there was a drought, and they said, ‘Something is wrong, there is no balance.'”
Women in Papua New Guinea are struggling to overcome the perception that only men are leaders, said Jessica Collins, a Pacific researcher at the independent think tank Lowy Institute in Sydney.
But there is now more public debate about women’s place in politics, Collins added, and some young, determined female candidates are campaigning smartly this year.
“The chance of getting women into parliament this time is probably increasing,” she said.
However, elections in Papua New Guinea can be dangerous.
During the last general election in 2017, more than 200 election-related killings were documented by observers from the Australian National University.
Election violations are “more outrageous than ever,” the observers said in a report, citing “serious irregularities” such as voter intimidation and multiple elections.
– “People are desperate” –
The risks can be even greater for female candidates who are struggling to obtain funding, said Pascoe, who sometimes ventures into volatile areas without the large security teams of her male rivals.
So far, she hasn’t had any significant safety issues, but Pascoe said she’s heard stories of crowds throwing rocks and bottles at candidates.
“I was at a place the other night where the guy said they hadn’t had water for a month,” she said.
“People are desperate,” and if they don’t hear what they want from candidates, they can get upset, Pascoe said.
Australia has dispatched more than 130 soldiers with transport planes to secure the vote.
They will support Papua New Guinea’s thousands of police and troops across the country in the toughest operations in the remote and often violent highland provinces.
To make matters worse, the electoral roll is not up to date, said Pacific analyst Harry Ivarature of the Australian National University. “So the whole integrity of this election is already in question.”
Voting is scheduled to take place over 18 days, with the result not expected before August.
Analysts say the prime ministerial battle could get tight as O’Neill calls for a revitalization of the commodities sector, three years after he resigned amid pressure from corruption and a failure to spread mining wealth.
In an ethnically diverse country with more than 800 languages, there are few national issues to stir voters, and the primary focus remains on what material benefits candidates can bring to local communities.
However, women hope that their voices will prevail.
“We could see a whole new generation emerge with power from this,” Pascoe said.
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