Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa says the Fijian Elections Office (FEO) has recommended a 30 percent gender quota for political party candidate nominations to promote greater participation of women in politics.
Speaking to the Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights during discussions on the 2022 General Elections Joint Report yesterday, Ms Mataiciwa said the proposal was part of a draft amendment to the Electoral Act that has been submitted to the Law Reform Commission for consideration.
“In our recommendation to the Law Reform Commission, we had actually drafted an amendment to the Electoral Act,” she said.
“What we proposed was that 30 percent of candidates nominated by political parties must be from each gender.”
Ms Mataiciwa said the recommendation came after analysing past elections and noting the limited participation of women candidates.
“When we looked at previous party lists submitted over the past three general elections, we saw that while some political parties have women’s wings, the empowerment of women within the parties themselves is still not really present,” she explained.
She said the FEO wanted to explore the effectiveness of the quota system through political parties before pursuing any major legislative reform.
“We recommended that instead of making major legislative changes immediately, we test it through the parties first — to see if it works,” Ms Mataiciwa said.
“If it’s accepted, we can trial it in the next general election; if not, we’ll look at how to improve from there.”
She added that the proposal was based on international best practices and consultations with various stakeholders, including potential female candidates.
“We spoke to those affected by the provision and looked at how other countries have done it,” she said.
“At the end of the day, we can empower women through voter education and electoral processes, but it also comes back to the political parties — what’s within the party itself and whether it supports women’s leadership.”
She said the proposed gender quota aims to strengthen inclusion and provide women with a fairer opportunity to participate in national decision-making.
