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Where are the women in PNG’s parliament?

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A voter from Selau is seen at Buka market, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, 30 November 2019 (Bougainville Referendum Commission/Jeremy Miller/Handout via Reuters Connect)

In Brief

Papua New Guinea (PNG) held its 11th national election in July 2022. There were 3619 candidates, of which less than 5 per cent (159) were women. Only two of these women were successful — Rufina Peter, the new governor for Central Province and Kessy Sawang, the member-elect for Rai Coast Open.

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In the 2017–2022 parliamentary term, PNG was one of three countries, alongside Yemen and Vanuatu, without any women parliamentarians. While two is better than none, in a parliament with 118 seats, having two women members is not enough.

Since 1972, only seven women have been elected to PNG’s parliament. Dame Josephine Abaijah was elected as a member for three different electorates and held a seat from 1972–1977, 1977–1982 and 1997–2002. The other women representatives are Waliyato Clowes (1977–1982), Nahau Rooney (1977–1987), Dame Carol Kidu (2002–2012), Julie Soso (2012–2017), Loujaya Kouza (2012–2017) and Delilah Gore (2012–2017). The election of Rufina Peter and Kessy Sawang brings that tally up to nine.

PNG’s electoral space can be quite hostile towards women. PNG elections are notorious for voter intimidation, bribery, vote-buying and violence. Such activities make the electoral environment conducive for male incumbents with money and largess but not for women who often campaign based on their qualifications, experience and policy promises.

Upon Rufina Peter’s election, PNG Prime Minister James Marape reportedly said, ‘she has shown that women can win on merit. We don’t need special seats for women to contest’. Marape’s statement reflects the lack of political will towards improving women’s political underrepresentation.

Since becoming Prime Minister, Marape has been vocal about his disregard for legislative temporary special measures that could increase women’s political participation. At the Political Parties and Women in Leadership Forum in Port Moresby in 2019, Marape said that women could win elections on their own merit provided the electoral environment was fair.

Marape’s use of the term ‘merit’ is misplaced. It is unclear whether it is in reference to a female candidate’s qualifications or the way in which she conducts her electoral campaign. Good qualifications and experience can contribute to a female candidate’s credibility — but they are unlikely to carry her to victory. Voting culture, electoral environment and a candidate’s campaign approach are more practical determinants of winning an election.

The voting culture in PNG is predominately parochial. Voters have shown a proclivity to select leaders who will benefit them personally. Voting for relatives or kin is common. The electoral environment is rife with money politics and voters are often swayed by cash payments. Women candidates may have a better chance of winning constituencies where vote rigging is not widespread (such as the lowland and coastal electorates) and voters vote based on their political conscience.

The 2022 election is a case in point — the constituencies of Rufina Peter and Kessy Sawang do not have a reputation for vote rigging or electoral violence, so votes are cast freely. Oro province, which is known to encourage conscious voting, performed well in terms of women candidates, with Delilah Gore in third place for the Sohe electorate and Jean Eparo Parkop in second place for the Oro governor seat. This is not the case in tumultuous highlands provinces where women candidates have almost zero chance of getting elected.

PNG’s 2022 election was far from democratic. The election race saw ballot box destruction and violent attacks in lowland constituents, including in Markham and Kabwum. The burning of ballot boxes in these two districts not only impacted the election of their district members but also affected the electoral outcome of the Morobe governor seat. Candidate Jennifer Baing missed out on collecting the votes from her home district of Markham and Kabwum, which were likely to be in her favour. She finished in third place for the Morobe Provincial seat with 45,498 votes.

The task for PNG now is to create a fair electoral environment that produces better results for women candidates in the 2027 election. But PNG’s democratic process and merit-based elections have been deteriorating for the last three decades. It will take significant time, resources and reforms to clean it up. Until then, women candidates and voters will continue an uphill battle towards equal and democratic political representation.

Theresa Meki is a Pacific research fellow at the Department of Pacific Affairs, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University.

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