The proposed Women Bill for 22 reserved seats has been gazetted and may be introduced to Parliament in the current session.

Women leaders are looking forward to having it first debated in the third week of this session and hoping that it will not be overshadowed by Moses Maladina’s amendments debate.

According to Dr Eric Kwa, the legal adviser on the technical team who drafted the bill, it requires a period of 21 days before being presented for debate by MPs.

“We hope that the Bill will be debated in the third week of this month. If the MPs support it and vote for it, it will then be presented in the July sitting for the final reading. So now, all we are looking forward to is the first debate on the Bill and hopefully it will not be overshadowed by Maladina’s amendments,” Dr Kwa said.

The notice was published in the National Gazette on 23 April.

Speaker Jeffrey Nape has given the okay for the Government’s proposal to alter the Constitution pursuant to Section 14 (2) to allow for the creation of two member provincial electorates, one exclusively for women and the other for the member.

According to a copy of the national gazette, the proposed law aims to improve the equality, participation and representation of women of PNG in Parliament and the provincial assemblies.

SOURCE: POST COURIER/PACNEWS

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