Kari’s a first for women

Solomon Islands

THE election of Hilda Kari on May 24 gave me Solomon Islands its first woman Member of Parlia ment alter independence and gave the ruling Peoples Alliance Party another seat to make it 22 in the 38-seat parlia ment. The by-election was called for the Northeast Guadalcanal constituency to fill the vacancy left by the election as Speaker of Waeta Ben.

In a country where women outnumber men, Kari was surprised to learn during the election that most registered voters were men. “I expected to see more women voting for a woman candidate but this was not the case,” she told Solo

mon Star newspaper in Honiara. “Men cannot see the problem women encoun ter everyday,” echoing the need for more women in parliament. The 40year-old Kari is president of the Solo mon Islands National Council of Women and was senior administrative officer in the Ministry of Health Her priorities include trying to get a better deal for landowners in her consti tuency, a move that could spell trouble for foreign logging companies. “1 wish to see that such large-scale logging opera tions in my constituency be stopped,” she said. D