Former Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Minister Mereseini Rakuita says she joined the FijiFirst party because she was told “the party needed more women who could speak up in Parliament”.
Ms Rakuita said she got onboard with the party because she was passionate about empowering women and giving them a voice in the national arena.
However, she said she became disillusioned because the system in place made it difficult for parliamentarians to truly represent the people that voted them in.
“I was told, ‘I would like more women who can speak up in Parliament to join the party’ and that bought me because I have always been very passionate about successful women,” she said.
“It’s the system we have in place, actually a constitutional provision that says even if I get in because I get this many votes, people who believe in me and feel that I have to help lead the nation, there is a certain constitutional provision that says that if I speak my mind in Parliament and that opinion that I have is contrary to what my party says, that’s enough reason to kick me out.
“So what’s the point of having great leaders who have great ideas on how we can move forward as a nation and that is lost when we have a system that doesn’t support your individual leadership skills.
“If we are to achieve great gender equality and women empowerment, we need to re-look at the system that governs our participation in leadership circles in the political sphere.
“We’ve heard about the barriers, the cultural, social and religious norms that exist that can fold structural barriers to the enhancement of this thing.
“We’ve heard about discrimination and harassment and violence about women in leadership, but what are we doing about it.”
