A researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has urged political parties in Indonesia to assert their allyship toward women to increase their representation in politics, especially in the legislative branch.

During an online event observed from here on Wednesday, Siti Zuhro said that this allyship could be realized by political parties by strengthening the confidence of female members to become legislative candidates.

This confidence has not emerged due to parties’ less-than-optimal allyship, she noted during a national webinar held by the Indonesian Women’s Congress (Kowani) entitled ‘The Role of Political Parties toward The Success of Women Candidate in the Legislative Election 2024′.

Her remarks came as a response to a statement made by Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP) politician Sri Rahayu.

Rahayu said that one of the challenges to increasing women’s representation in politics, especially in the legislative branch, is a lack of confidence among women.

Women often consider their abilities to be lesser compared to male legislative candidates, he claimed. Hence, improving their confidence is a problem that should be resolved soon, whether by the political parties or by the women themselves, he said.

Zuhro opined that if women’s confidence to join the legislative institution improves, then their representation within that institution will reach at least 30 percent.

In addition, she advised that political parties’ allyship toward women be realized through a proactive move and recruitment process that utilizes a team of headhunters. The team will be tasked to find quality candidates, she said.

“What I imagine is that the recruitment process should not be done as usual when it comes to women, rather it should involve headhunters,” she noted.

She suggested that, in order to recruit women, the team scour places such as campuses and women’s organizations.

Source: Antara News