Selasa, 30 Juli 2013

The dilemma for female candidates in Indonesia

The dilemma for female candidates in Indonesia
Akh. Muzakki ;   The writer, a former participant of the US State Department- supported 2013 International Visiting Leaders Program (IVLP), lectures at the State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Sunan Ampel in Surabaya
JAKARTA POST, 25 Juli 2013

  
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. Not only so-called Islamic political parties face these problems, but also the so-called nationalist parties (The Jakarta Post, May 14). 

The General Elections Commission disqualified some of the parties from contesting in certain election districts for failing to meet the requirement, but later the Election Supervisory Body annulled this sanction.

Worse, many female candidates have less experience and less confidence in campaigning than their male counterparts. This situation has had an impact on the position of female candidates running for political office in the country. 

Two key points deserve a thorough analysis in this regard. First, women and politics are still regarded as not complementary and supportive of each other. Politics is not seen as a good way for women who seek public office. 

The general perception of the existing picture of politics does not support the movement of women into politics. The political performance of female members of legislative bodies recently is a trigger factor. Some of them have become mired in corruption and manipulation. 

Female politicians and corruption are issues that have recently attracted public attention. Angelina Sondakh from the Democratic Party and Wa Ode Nurhayati from the National Mandate Party are just two notorious examples of female politicians who have underlined a perception about an intense connection between women politicians and corruption. 

After a long trial process, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Angelina to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment, with another six months pending unless she pays a Rp250 million (US$25,000) fine. She was found guilty of accepting a $4.4m bribe to facilitate construction contracts for the Youth and Sports Ministry. 

Like Angelina, Nurhayati was convicted of accepting bribes. The judges found Nurhayati had rigged the Regional Infrastructure Adjustment Fund (DPID), and sentenced her to six years in prison. She was found guilty of taking bribes when awarding DPID. Additionally, she was also obliged to pay a Rp500 million fine, with a subsidiary sentence of six months in prison.

These two cases only show that corruption is not a male-dominated issue. The cases of Angelina and Nurhayati contribute to the strengthening of popular understanding that women have now become the target of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). 

People draw lessons from the above cases, enabling them to rethink the position of women in politics. The movement of women from the domestic domain into the public arena is basically a new, welcome phase for female participation in national affairs. 

But, if women perceive that their presence in politics leads them easily into moral bankruptcy, they will stay clear of politics. They would say that politics is not their place. 

This political landscape adds a factor to the difficulty in looking for female candidates (let alone good ones) to reach the 30 percent quota requirement. Politics is seen as being too risky for women to get involved in, particularly for those without a great deal of experience or confidence. 

Second, the difficulty in reaching the 30 percent quota requirement for women shows that the political parties have not done enough to develop a mechanism of leadership for women. Political parties in this country remain elitist in their political orientation. This is coupled with their strategic direction more toward the mass rather than cadre politics. 

The strong orientation toward mass politics has increasingly reduced the capacity to develop leadership management geared particularly toward female party members. Politics and leadership are basically two sides of the same coin, inseparable components. 

If the political parties fail to secure leadership management, they will find it difficult to get well-prepared and well-performing candidates for any political contest. In their place will be individuals with either huge financial capital at their disposal or celebrities offering little more than mere popularity. 

The difficulty in finding female candidates is just a logical consequence of the low-performance of political parties in developing leadership programs, especially for female members. Therefore, the 30 percent quota requirement for women tends to be viewed as good news by women, but as a political burden by political parties.

Lending female candidates support in campaign strategies is believed to be a political necessity. But, in the long run, this is not a good or smart solution. 

Political parties need to have a firm, strongly-designed leadership mechanism to develop female members of political parties. In the absence of this mechanism political parties will tend to rely strongly on celebrities. 

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