…President promises more women, youth involvement in government

…says his next administration will work towards 50 per cent target

THE next David Granger Administration will work towards equating the ratio of women to men representation in parliament and the advancement of youth involvement in government.

On Thursday on the Guyana Chronicle’s Vantage Point, the Head of State first spoke to the efforts of the coalition government thus far towards the advancement of women.

He reminded that both the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Chairman, Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence and General Secretary, Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally are high ranking females in the party.

He also noted Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams and several other junior ministers of government who are female.

“It’s not up to 50 per cent as yet,” the President acknowledge, adding: “The next David Granger Administration will see us moving to and hopefully achieving that 50 per cent target.”

At a workshop last Wednesday organised by the Women and Gender Equality Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Minister of Public Service, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley shared the same sentiments.

“Even as we celebrate that both government and opposition Chief Whips are women and the present longest serving member of the National Assembly is also a woman – Minister Amna Ally – what is struggling is the fact that there exists no guarantee that gender equity will be achieved in the National Assembly because since 1966 the average women representation has been below 20 per cent. It’s hearting to know though that at this 11th Parliament there was 31 per cent or 22 women members of the 65 elected members and, for the first time since independence, this government has seven women ministers and a total of 14 women MPs,” she said.

Sarabo-Halley assured women in Guyana that they have the government’s full support towards working to address these issues and a great place to start is in the National Assembly.

THE PEOPLE’S DECISION

Even with these intentions, the President explained that the ultimate decision of which gender is elected into the House of the National Assembly lies in the vote of the people.

“The question will always arise as to whether you appoint a person because she’s a woman or because she’s efficient and I would like to see, naturally, efficient women. Just as I appoint men, I don’t appoint them because they are males I appoint them because they’re efficient,” the President said.

“Politics could be a very tricky game because if you give electors or members of any group the option they will elect who they want to elect. There’s nothing in their head that says we must elect five men and five women. If they want to elect six women and four men that is their choice. So, there will always be a collision between democracy and equity.”

That aside, the President advised that members of the voting population must consciously seek women of quality to elect them to higher office.

Added to this, he assured that it is the interest of his Party and government to continuously work to overcome existing obstacles

YOUTH INVOLVEMENT

Meanwhile, regarding youth involvement, the President noted that most of his junior ministers are women who, in the course of time, will graduate to higher positions.

He reminded that it wasn’t for some 20 years, that the PNCR — as a part of the coalition — was re-elected into government.

As a result, the exposure of eligible members of the Party was limited during the period of 1992 to 2015.

“I took trouble since 2015 to appoint a significant number of junior ministers who are younger and who are female. So, it is not something that I have not addressed my mind to and, in the fullness of time, you’ll see more young people and young women taking positions of leadership in the government,” he said.

Added to this, the government and its various ministries continue to host annual Youth Parliaments which give youths an experience of debating in the National Assembly in Parliament.

The activity boosts the students’ morale and develops and hones their debating and leadership skills while inspiring them to become the future leaders of their country.