Ticha explains her reasons for quitting panels
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LEADING activist Ticha Na Nakorn said yesterday that her resignation from the reform committee and the charter-drafting body illustrated her aim to fight for women's representation under the new charter.
“I have lost hope as I’m unable to explain to most drafters the necessity of opening more spaces for women [under the new charter] so they can express their political ideas,” she told the press yesterday.
She said she stepped down from her posts at the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) and National Reform Council (NRC) on Sunday because some male drafters had shot down her proposal for a fair proportion of female candidates in party-list MP candidature.
“The aim was neither to boost women’s power nor reduce men’s power. The objective was to make women participate in pushing our society forward and maintaining a balance,” she said.
Her proposal also calls for at least one-third of the staff of local administrative councils to be women – an idea that has sparked a long-winded debate and is still pending further scrutiny by the CDC.
“It is like working in a laboratory – people are so focused on what they are doing that they do not realise there’s stormy weather outside,” Ticha said, metaphorically referring to the gender inequality issue that is not obvious to some men.
She went on to say that her role in the NRC and CDC had failed to create a balance for women in society and her inability to make changes made her lose respect in herself.
“Resigning from these roles will give me more freedom in pushing for women’s rights, as CDC and NRC have too many regulations that obstruct my goals,” she added.
She went on to say that the conflicts in relation to her proposal had not erupted because CDC president Borwonsak Uwanno had rejected her ideas. On the contrary, she said, Borwornsak was doing his best to create compromise between the two groups, but some male members insisted on fighting the idea that women should be given a greater representation in the political arena.
Ticha added that the job of a drafter was to discuss all options and sift articles that should not be inserted into the constitution, citing the draft on giving “emergency power” to the prime minister. She said she debated against it for two hours and finally talked the majority into rejecting it.
Asked whether there was still unfinished work she was concerned about, she said “in my point of view, the soon-to-be-established national ethics committee can either be the answer for pushing the country forward or it can be the grave of politicians”.
She called on the CDC to scrutinise this new agency carefully.
Asked if her resignation could ignite further resistance to the junta government or affect national reform, she said her actions were not related to the government because she’s neither a supporter of the junta nor its enemy.
NRC member Rosana Tositrakul said Ticha’s proposal seeking fair representation of women in the field of politics was valid and needs to be addressed.
