We cannot deny the fact that women are under-represented in politics and public life in Mauritius. Although Mauritius is at present presiding the Southern African Developing Community (SADC), it is undeniably one of the countries with the lowest percentage of women in public life. The South African non-governmental organisation (NGO) Gender Links and its counterpart in Mauritius, Media Watch Organisation, organised a workshop last week on Gender, Media and Elections. However the prime minister, Paul Bérenger, and his deputy, Pravind Jugnauth, both snubbed the organisations. (see inset).

All observers, including Albie Sachs, who was asked to write a report on the present electoral system and possible ways of reforming it, agree on one point: the ?First Past the Post? system does not encourage a higher number of women to be involved in political life. Proportional representation, which Albie Sachs suggested implementing as soon as possible in Mauritius, would most probably help.

Statistics have proved it. Countries in which the RP system is applied have a better level of representation for women. In Africa for instance, the two countries, with the highest number of women in Parliament, Mozambique and South Africa, are countries where the RP system prevails.

The reason is simple. With the RP system, the number of votes obtained by one party is proportional to the number of seats it will have in Parliament. Each party has to present a list of candidates and the percentage of votes goes to the people at the top of the party list. As a result, the more votes you get, the more people will be elected on the list. Political leaders would thus have to place more women on the top of their lists to make sure there is fair representation.

<B>Electoral reform postponed</B>

Mauritius, like all other SADC members, has made the commitment that 30% of MPs will be women by 2005. With only 4 at the moment, we are very far from our goal. Moreover, with the postponement of the electoral reform, we have little chance of having more women in Parliament through the PR system. We will obviously have to look for other methods.

It is a fact that cultural traditions prevent women from fighting for this right. It is also a fact that women should struggle to get what they want. Do they really want a place in politics or do they think it is men?s business? Except for renowned organisations, which are clamouring for a fair representation of women in politics, we do not see many ?ordinary? women on the stage to fight for their rights. It looks as if the perception that the traditional role of a woman is to stay behind the scenes is rooted in many women?s and other people?s minds. Women have to stick their necks out in this battle.

Nevertheless, even if all women protested against the situation and asked for more seats in Parliament, it wouldn?t be enough. The main stakeholders ? politicians - have to play their part. . For Rama Sithanen, who addressed the audience at the workshop as an academic researcher, the only way is to amend the law. A few months from the pending elections, it is clear that we won?t achieve the 30% expected. Hence, a short-term solution to try and improve the statistics would be to bring a small percentage of proportional representation into the system as from this year. But, are the party leaders really committed to making that first step?

<B>When government members feel ?rejected?</B>

The Media Watch Organisation (MWO) workshop was marred by the bickering that followed the first session. The leaders of the ruling alliance decided not to participate in the workshop. MWO chairperson Loga Virahsawmy says that Pravind Jugnauth had told her he might not be able to attend but prime minister Paul Bérenger had confirmed his atendance. She says she doesn?t understand his reaction. Danielle Perrier, a government MP, explained the PM?s absence by the fact that MWO had allowed opposition leader Navin Ramgoolam to conduct his political campaign on the stage. Loga Virahsawy said she had no reason to stop him. She insists that MWO has nothing to do with any political party, whatever the government thinks about it.