OUALIE BEACH HOTEL, Nevis - WOMEN members of Parliament in the region and representatives of Caribbean Institute of Women in Leadership (CIWIL) on Saturday (Jan. 16) propped the sole woman candidate in Nevis, Patricia Hanley, who is facing the uphill task of unseating Hon. Vance Amory in the St. George’s Federal constituency.
At a luncheon held at the Oualie Hotel and attended by Nevis’ Premier Joseph Parry and Hanley’s campaign committee members, Hon. Liz Thompson of the Barbados Parliament and Joan Masiah, a Senator in Antigua and Barbuda Parliament as well as representatives of CIWIL pushed their organisation’s agenda of increasing women’s political participation in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“People are capable of transcending politics. We as women here in St. Kitts and Nevis must transcend party politics. We have to say the least is not our portion. We have to say that we belong to the echelons of decision-making. We have to be part of those discussions,” Masiah told the gathering. She further noted that for women to influence policies that impact on crime, youth delinquency, teenage pregnancies and HIV/AIDS, they have to be involved in parliament where laws are legislated.
Liz Thompson, a Minister of the Barbados Government and who has been victorious in four elections, said she had failed in her first attempt as a young attorney in her 20s but that did not deter her from contesting in subsequent elections. “I salute you Patricia Hanley for answering a call to service…You have a right to be a candidate as anybody else. You have a voice to be heard. You have to see yourself as a political David,” she advised her colleague.
Hanley is the third female candidate to ever contest in an election on Nevis. Amande Thompson, a lawyer by profession, political strategist and who contested in the past General Elections in Guyana, said their presence in the Federation is not in support of any political party but “the women candidates”.
“Are women not good enough to lead you in parliament? They are just as able as any male you can meet in the political landscape in St. Kitts and Nevis,” she said. “She needs support of her family, her campaign team, her community and the citizens of Nevis. It would be hoped you would all vote with your conscience,” Thompson said and added, “Act like a lady, but when you come to politics you can do it like any man. So, onward to victory…claim it and name it.”
The Premier admitted that women do work hard for political parties behind the scenes but many of them shy away from politics due to the “rough and tumble” of the profession. He however noted that women in the Caribbean had been given great opportunities in leadership.
“Women outnumber men in all the disciplines,” he said and cited universities and sixth form colleges, noting that in time women would emerge as politicians. “Traditionally, we have depended on you to hold the family together and sometimes single-handedly to handle the family,” he said and called on women not to give up in taking care of the family even with the increasing crime rate.
He went on to say: “You may have to take care of the older men themselves by giving them an education so that the society is balanced.” He thanked CIWIL for giving support to women around the Caribbean to enter into politics.
CIWIL President Sheila Rosseau declared, “We are here to support and salute Patricia Hanley as she contests the general elections.” She explained that CIWIL is a non-partisan organization that exists to increase the number of women in politics, leadership and decision-making, participatory, empowering and affirming of women, men, girls, and boys in the region.
The St. Kitts and Nevis Women Issue Manifesto (2009) lobbies decision makers to make every effort to increase the number of women in political decision-making proportional to their representation in the population, as advocated in the Beijing Platform 1995 and Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), signed and passed in 1985. St. Kitts and Nevis is signatory to CEDAW.
The St. Kitts and Nevis 2009 Women Issues Manifesto lobbies policy makers to appoint a proportional number of women based on their representation in the population to Senate positions; appoint a proportional number of women based on their representation in the population to paid boards and commissions; and to appoint a proportional number of women based on their representation in the population to ambassadorial positions.
