Small wins for women

Dr Gabrielle Jamela Hosein

A MONTH ago, I wrote about the exclusion of women from national decision-making given their minority status in the current Cabinet. Today, I look at the candidates and what we can expect in terms of women elected to the House come April 29.

The UNC-led coalition is fielding 39 candidates of whom nine are women, with one being a Progressive Empowerment Party representative. They are in Arouca/Lopinot, Chaguanas East, Couva North, Cumuto/Manzanilla, Deigo Martin West, Moruga/Tableland, Princes Town, Siparia, and St Augustine.

Of these, predictions are that Vandana Mohit will be returned to Chaguanas East, Jearlean John to Couva North, political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to Siparia, and Khadijah Ameen to St Augustine. Dr Aiyna Ali is in a "safe" seat in Princes Town and, last election, Cumuto/Manzanilla went to the UNC, whose candidate is Shivanna Sam.

Against Marvin Gonzales in Arouca/Lopinot and Hans Des Vignes in Diego Martin West, those are typically lost seats for UNC or other parties. So, it is possible to predict that of the nine women candidates of the coalition, six may make it to Parliament as elected representatives.

The PNM is fielding 41 candidates of whom 12 are women. They are in Arima, Caroni East, Mayaro, Moruga/Tableland, Naparima, Siparia, St Ann’s East, St Augustine, Tabaquite, Trincity/Maloney, Tobago East, and Tobago West.

Of these, Pennelope Beckles is expected to be returned to Arima, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly to St Ann’s East, Camille Robinson-Regis to Trincity/Maloney, and Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis to Tobago West.

The constituencies of Caroni East, Mayaro, Naparima, Siparia, St Augustine and Tabaquite have not typically gone to the PNM and will be a fight for the women put there.

Moruga/Tableland is considered a seat difficult to predict in this election, and the PNM has a woman fighting there also. From the perspective of predicted seats, of its 12 women candidates, it is likely to return five or six women to the House, just above a quarter of the minimum number of MPs a party needs, none of whom are Indian women.

In Tobago, there are seven parties vying for two seats. The UNC-led coalition does not have candidates in Tobago, but the PNM has Ayanna Webster-Roy in Tobago East.

Of some interest, Watson Duke of the Progressive Democratic Party is contesting that seat as is the Tobago People’s Party, the Patriotic Front, the Innovative Democratic Alliance, and the Unity of the People. Two of these parties are led by women, with Dr Denise Tsoiafatt Angus leading the IDA.

It’s a challenge to the male-dominated status quo when women who are serious and committed organisers opt for the uphill battle of being leaders of political parties. This is an important departure from our masculinist political history, and worth documenting by scholars of our post-independence efforts at expanding access to an equal place on terms that include gender, in addition to creed and race.

Fascinating things are happening with the Patriotic Front where Mickela Panday seems to have generated ground-level excitement. I know folks in Couva North who are going to the polls to put an X by her name, which rocks up things in interesting ways for the UNC’s Jearlean John who is, no doubt, taking every vote seriously.

The Patriotic Front fielded more candidates than any other of the recent, small, or upstart contenders. Of its 37 candidates, 20 of them are women.

This completely defies the narrative that women do not want to contest elections or participate in political leadership and it slams both the UNC and PNM’s inability to identify, invite and encourage women to run, or to assist and mentor women from the brigades and women’s arms, who are at the base of the party hierarchy, into more elite and national levels of power. Which signals a disinterest in doing better than keeping more men than women at the top.

Kudos to the Patriotic Front for showing the entrenched goliaths how it’s done. They put money into a different kind of more modern politics from one which keeps qualified women at the periphery. It will be interesting to see how many votes the party gets in Couva North and San Fernando West, where every vote counts.

Come April 29, we might expect 11 MPs who are women – numbers can shift depending on Tobago East –, adding up to approximately 12 women of 41 in the House, or just less than one-third. I’d love different numbers. An election victory for women in Trinidad and Tobago certainly seems far down the road.

Diary of a mothering worker

Entry 554

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