Female candidates not just for show: Golkar

JAKARTA. Female legislative candidates fielded by the Golkar Party in Yogyakarta are not just running to meet the 30 percent female representation requirement in the legislature, a local party leader has said.

“Female legislative candidates signify gender equality. So, it’s not just for the sake of abiding by the law,” chairman of Golkar’s Yogyakarta chapter, Gandung Pardiman, said as quoted by Antara news agency on Wednesday.

Gandung was referring to Law No. 10/2008 on legislative elections and Law No. 2/2008 on political parties, which stipulate a quota of 30 percent for females in all legislative bodies.

He said that the two laws guaranteed the participation of females on the country’s political stage.

"Nevertheless, Golkar’s Yogyakarta chapter does not recruit or determine female candidates arbitrarily, but rather based on loyalty and capacity,” he said.

“The female legislative candidates have been carefully selected and evaluated.”

Once chosen as legislative candidates, he continued, the female candidates received further political education to strengthen their capacity and provide them with sufficient political skills.

The elected female candidates were expected to further promote women's aspirations and encourage female participation in politics, he added.

“They [elected female candidates] are expected to contribute to the advancement of women,” said Gandung, who is also a member of the House of Representatives Commission V overseeing infrastructure issues. (tjs/nvn)