Women are increasingly taking up more leadership roles in the 2022 Timor-Leste presidential election, with the number of contenders doubling on previous years.
Four women will compete for the presidency against 12 male contenders, a sign that the young nation is forging a more inclusive political landscape.
Men have been dominating politics in the southeast Asian country but that is fast becoming a thing of the past.
“I think having four women candidates in the presidential election is quite a move forward,” Milena Pires, a candidate in the 2022 Timor-Leste election, told SBS News.
Ms Pires is an independent candidate and has been fighting for women’s rights for more than three decades. She's also a former ambassador for the United Nations.
Milena Pires campaign poster. Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole
If elected, she hopes to facilitate a platform for women to have a voice in the upper echelons of government.
“We are mobilising the women’s vote, we’re telling women that if they want an advocate to sit at the presidential palace,” she said.
“If they want someone to defend women’s rights and to continue to promote gender equality then they need to vote for women.”
Since independence in 2002, it was written into the constitution that women and men will have the same rights and duties in all areas of family, political, economic, social, and cultural life.
But glaring disparities still exist.
The participation rate of women in the labour force is substantially lower than their male counterpart. Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole
According to data collected in Timor-Leste’s most recent census, 59 per cent of women in Timor-Leste over the age of 15 have experienced physical and/or sexual partner violence in their lifetime.
In higher education, only eight women for every 10 men are seen to participate, while the adult literacy rate for women is 60 per cent compared to 69 per cent for men.
The participation rate of women in the labour force is substantially lower at 35.8 per cent corresponding to the 71.1 per cent rate for men.
Isabel Ferreira is running as an independent candidate. Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole
Isabel Ferreira is the wife of the now-former Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, Taur Matan Ruak, who controversially resigned after he repeatedly failed to secure a budget in 2020, but remained in the position during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Ferreira is also a human rights lawyer and speaking to SBS, had her answers translated from Portuguese.
She said going into the election her priority is education and bringing people out of poverty by liberating the Timorese population.
“I want to empower the people to make the change they want,” she said.
“I remember a time before independence when we were fighting, and our leaders listened to us, I believe politicians have stopped listening.”
She said she is happy to be one of four female candidates but said it is “a pity more aren’t competing”.
Ms Ferreira is well-versed in politics becoming involved at university and spending time as first lady of Timor-Leste.
Women are taking up more leadership roles in the 2022 Timor-Leste presidential election, with the number of contenders doubling on previous years. Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole
She said she and her husband share values, but she is running her own independent campaign.
“We share the same dream, which is to help the people to liberate themselves from poverty,” she said.
Nelcia Guterres is a student at university studying political science and public administration and says the election is inspiring, but more can be done.
“We have a law that 30 per cent of women must participate in politics but in Timor-Leste we still lack that,” she said.
Source: SBS News / Aneeta Bhole
“We need to recognise our potential and the qualities we have so that we can lead this country one day.”
While a female contender is not likely to secure the position of president in this election, political analyst Damien Kingsbury says the young nation is moving quickly to achieve its goals for equality and close the gender gap.
“Timor-Leste was a very conservative, very traditional, arguably backwards society in relation to women prior to independence,” he told SBS News.
“But now, women with capacity are getting into government, are getting into ministerial positions are standing for the presidency in ways in which you just don’t get to see in other developing countries.”
Milena Pires and Isabel Ferreira will compete against two other women in this year’s election including, Armanda Berta dos Santos, the president of Kmanek Haburas Unidade Nasional Timor (KHUNTO) and Angela Freitas, the president of the Worker’s Party and a former candidate in the 2017 election.
