Page 11 - IB Mar 2020

Vanuatu Vanuatu

Voter registration in October last year. Photo: Vanuatu Elections Office. The election office released materials encouraging women to also register
as candidates.

the 2016 snap election when the Electoral Commission and March 19 as a national public holiday in Vanuatu as the
Electoral Office had significantly less time to prepare. I look country will go to polls to elect its members of Parliament for
forward to observing the elections in Vanuatu where all the 12th Legislature.
stakeholders have had the full electoral cycle to prepare.”
The Head of State, His Excellency Obed Tallis declared editor@islandsbusiness.com

WOMEN SEEK SEATS strong,” she said.
Pakoa believes women must go the extra mile to prove
The representation of women in parliament has also themselves worthy to run for office.
been a hot issue this election. Of the 297 total candidates The poor representation of women in Vanuatu parliament
for 52 seats, 18 are women. Eleven are rallying under is a continuing trend. Since Independence, only five women
different political parties while nine are running as have been elected into parliament, the most recent in
Independents. 2008.
In 2016, ten women contested the national election. Vanuatu non-government organisations launched the ‘Vot
None made it into the national Parliament. Woman’ 2020 campaign late last year, which called for a 50
Anne Pakoa, who is running as an Independent for one per cent representation of women in Parliament.
of the four Port Vila constituency seats believes women “Today, the women of Vanuatu are scientists, pilots,
prefer to run as Independents for various reasons. engineers and doctors. We need to change our behaviours
“Personally, I think political Parties do not accept and attitudes towards development. Can a woman be Prime
them, secondly parties’ policies are not agreeable to the Minister of Vanuatu? Yes, of course!” said Vanuatu’s First
candidate and in particular women, they must pass some Head of State, Ati George Sokomanu at the Vot Woman
crazy male-based criteria to be accepted into a male- launch in November.
dominated party. That campaign attracted criticism from politicians from
“It takes a lot to be a leader in a small island developing across the spectrum who accused NGOs, in particular
state like Vanuatu where we are culturally and spiritually international ones, of interfering in internal affairs.

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