Ticha's resignation throws light on drafters' view on women
Play
THE RESIGNATION of leading female activist-- Ticha Na Nakorn as charter drafter and reformer has sparked heated discussion whether there is gender discrimination within the drafting committee.
Last weekend, Ticha quit her post with the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) and as a National Reform Council member.
Resignation from such important agencies led to the belief it was due to a dispute between female and male members. At issue was that a proposal should be inserted in the new charter requiring at least one-third of local administrative members be women.
The matter is still pending until further discussion at committee level. There are six women among 36 CDC members.
Even though many female drafters supported the proposal, it still caused conflict within the drafting committee, leaving some female members feeling there was discrimination among CDC members.
That was just one obvious example. Others included the belief of female members their proposals or ideas had been neglected by other members [mostly males].
A female member complained that “many male members occasionally looked down on women” when proposals suggested by the women were ignored and not inserted in the new charter.
The CDC discussed a new national ethical committee being set up to scrutinise politicians’ morality and the ethical aspect of their roles and actions.
A female member voiced opposition, reasoning that the new body had too much authority or could even be considered as a new court for politicians. She received support from fellow women – but not men – and the meeting went ahead with the proposed committee to be inserted in the new charter.
On the matter of party-list candidates, many female drafters suggested the new charter should include a fair proportion of female candidates – but the proposal was shot down.
A female drafter pointed out that these proportional proposals were not based on female members’ prejudices. Rather they were gathered from the public, which wanted to strengthen women’s roles in the Constitution.
On the surface, it could lead to a perception among the public that the majority of CDC members who are men, did not see the importance of women’s rights – or that male members were always undermining female members’ opinions.
However, if the public had a chance to observe CDC meetings they would see clearly that male drafters’ proposals were rejected or opposed as well.
For instance, a male member suggested the committee discuss the Privy Council’s jurisdiction and authority, which the CDC resolved to draft in accordance with previous charters.
Regarding Ticha’s resignation, on the one hand she showed her sincerity about strengthening women’s rights; once the agencies did not respond favourably to her objectives, she quit.
On the other hand, Ticha was perceived as an activist who always fought for gender equality, and her resignation could make the drafting committee scrutinise further proposals more carefully and take all opinions into account.
