Woman power
Following the upcoming general elections, regardless of which party wins, we can expect to see more women in Parliament--on both sides of the House. Yes! Women are finally coming into their own. And what to some may seem a small step--agreement by the Oversight Committee on constitutional reform that one third of the candidates put up by the political parties at the next elections on their national lists must be women--is a quantum leap. Women must ensure that this agreement is observed to the letter. For far too long men have paid lip service to gender representation, recognising the sterling contributions of women only on International Women's Day and other such occasions. Women have been the backbone of both major political parties for decades. Few have been allowed, publicly, to demonstrate their decision-making capabilities. Female political stalwarts, both past and present, include Shirley Field-Ridley, Viola Burnham, Faith Harding, Janet Jagan, Christina Ramjattan, Jane Phillips Gay, Philomena Sahoye-Shury, Indra Chandarpal, Gail Teixeira, Andaiye, Bonita Harris, to name a few. And while in the past we have had female ministers of education and health and female mayors, the present Cabinet has just two women ministers, neither in charge of the more important ministries. The former Cabinet, same administration, had one. However, the administration ought to be given credit for having had as its leader, Guyana's first woman president. Guyana had/has its share of tremendously strong women, who have recorded a number of firsts in a traditionally man's domain. But Guyana has not yet had a woman found a major political party, more's the pity. Women have a natural knack for management and leadership. Women can exert authority but do it with compassion and still be stoic when the occasion arises. Women leaders would faster choose peace above war, because their egos are not easily wounded. Men polled in this newspaper's 'What the People Say' column recently, proposed an extension of women's leadership. One man, a banker suggested that women's representation at the highest decision-making level in the land should be 50%. Another called for 90% of the national and regional lists of candidates for elections to be women, opining that men had failed at leading, both in central and local government. The consensus was that men have been making all the decisions that affect women, a major section of the population, and there needed to be an end to this. Women bring dignity and balance to the political arena. Men are conscious of this. They are also aware that women are no longer content to lead from behind, or bask in the success of a husband or son. More women will enter Parliament come 2001. They will confirm what was always believed--that women have the ability to unitedly move Guyana forward. More power to them!
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