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(September
14, 2007) The Women’s Roundtable of the Council of Asian Liberals & Democrats (CALD) opened today at the Cambodiana Hotel
in Phnom Penh.
Jointly
presided by Hon. Henedina Abad, chair of the CALD Women's Caucus
and former parliamentarian from the
Liberal Party of the Philippines and Hon. Saumura Tioulong, MP,
of the Sam Rainsy Party of Cambodia, the roundtable opened with
messages of support from the host, Hon. Sam Rainsy, MP, leader
of the national opposition of the Kingdom of Cambodia; CALD
Secretary General, Dr. J.R. Nereus Acosta; Mr. Hubertus von
Welck, Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia of the
Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF); and, Hon. Sue Huang, MP, of
the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan (DPP).
The Phnom
Penh event, which included a CALD Executive Committee meeting,
was hosted by the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) with the support of FNF
and DPP.
The theme of
the Roundtable was “Women in Politics: Beyond Affirmative
Action”. It is a follow-up activity of the CALD Women’s
Conference Advancing Women in Politics: the Role of Political
Parties held last October 25 in Taipei, Taiwan.
The
roundtable started with a review of the Taiwan activity given by
Hon. Bi-Khim Hsiao, MP, who was CALD Secretary General and
Director of the DPP International Affairs Department when the
Taipei conference was held.
This was
followed by the presentations of Madam Mu Sochua, SRP Deputy
Secretary General and former Cambodian Minister of Women’s
Affairs; Hon. Hsiao; Dr. Pusadee Tamthai, former Thai
parliamentarian and former Director General of the Democrat
Party of Thailand.
The three
spoke on Part I: Getting There (Experiences and Best Practices
for Getting Selected and Elected). In the session, the term
“women’s votes” was operationalized and the following questions
were asked and answered: Is there a women’s votes? If yes, how
does one tap them? What are the roles of political parties in
terms of establishing and tapping women’s votes? Do women
candidates make a positive difference in affecting the nature of
campaigns?
The
discussions were followed by reactions from Dr. Acosta and Hon.
Son Chhay, MP, of the Sam Rainsy Party. An open forum then
ensued.
For Part II:
Staying There (Transformative Politics) the speakers were Hon.
Ng Siew Lai, Member of the State Assembly, and an official of
the Malaysian People’s Movement Party (Gerakan); and Ms. Maria
Pakpahan of the Nation Awakening Party of Indonesia (PKB). The
discussants were former Ambassador Kasit Piromya of the Democrat
Party of Thailand; and, Dr. Rajiva Wijesinaha, head of Sri
Lanka’s Peace Secretariat and former President of the Liberal
Party. An open forum followed.
Recommendations were made during the roundtable which would be
presented to the CALD Executive Committee.
The
objectives of the activity were consistent with the Win With
Women Global Action Plan, namely: removing restrictions on
women’s political participation, including restrictions on
women’s suffrage and candidacy; increasing the number of women
elected officials at the national, provincial and local level;
ensuring that political parties include women in meaningful
leadership positions and in meaningful numbers; and, encouraging
greater participation of women in government decision-making and
advocating for legislation that enshrines full equality of men
and women.
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