Parliament unanimously passed a motion to set up a female caucus recently, as reported in last Thursday’s newspaper. It was initiated by United Democrats (UD) leader Sarah Wescot-Williams, whose press release on the topic published a day earlier included a photo of herself and three currently independent parliamentarians.
Some readers are now wondering if they might have been looking at a future women’s party. Reference has even been made to the UD leader working on reviving the Democratic Party (DP).
That seems a bit far-fetched at this point, but it’s interesting to note that the only all-female candidate list ever to participate in Curaçao’s elections was one of several attempts to breathe new life into “Partido Demokrat” on that island by earning a legislative seat, so far without success. Although some criticised the approach, it was generally accepted there, apparently just not sufficiently backed by the voters.
There is nothing wrong with this idea, mind you, and the same goes for establishing St. Maarten’s Women in Parliament (WIP), as witnessed by the fact that male members present not only voted “for” but co-signed the relevant motion. Gender issues have taken on added importance over the years and acknowledging such among elected representatives makes sense.
Special interests in politics are nothing new either. The Netherlands, for example, currently has parties for animals, older persons, etc.
While seeking broad support used to be the name of the game, nowadays focussing on specific but clearly defined and often loyal target groups is seen more often. Whether that would also work in a relatively small country with an extremely diverse population is a whole other question.
