Certain number of seats should be allocated for women in parliament - Volatabu

National Council of Women Secretary General Fay Volatabu says that the government should ensure that a certain number of seats are allocated for women in parliament ahead of the 2018 general election.

She says that this would ensure that women are ensured of their participation.

This comes after the Minister for Women Mereseini Vuniwaqa said in parliament that reserving seats for women in parliament would be an insult to women and that women should be elected into parliament based on merit.

When questioned by Fijivillage on the National Council of Women wanting the permanent reservation of parliamentary seats for women, Vuniwaqa said that this will fail to recognize the capacities of Fijian women.

She also called out Non-Government Organizations to encourage women to stand for elections rather than rely on preferential treatment.

Vuniwaqa further states that as a parliamentarian she wouldn’t want to be sitting in parliament thinking that she had gotten there through a law yard stick compared to her male counterparts.