Only 4 women amongst 274 candidates to contest Vanuatu elections
12th October, 2012
Vanuatu Parliament House
Only four women have been listed so far to contest the general elections in Vanuatu at the end of this month. The four are among 274 candidates the Electoral Commission named on Thursday. They are Eta Rory, Letty Kaltonga, Nicole Kaloran Jimmy and Rossie Mothy Jacob.
Mrs Rory was the only female elected into parliament in the 2008 elections.
More than 18 women were supposed to contest the 2012 elections following a workshop into the workings of parliament and being an MP. Two prominent Vanuatu female figures, the former presidents’ of Vanuatu National Council of Women, Jenny Ligo and Marianne Bani were not listed as candidates on Thursday. The pair both confirmed though that they had submitted their names in time to the Commission to contest the elections. The Electoral Commission says people whose names were not published on Thursday have 72 hours to sort out why their names were not included. The Commission is expected to come up with new list of confirmed candidates either this weekend or next week.