Don’t give women prefrential treatment in elections – Analyst

Emmanuel Nti, a political analyst, disagrees with the notion of special or preferential treatment for women who run for political office.

The analyst contended that women are human beings who should be subjected to the same electoral processes as males.

He argued that there is always the saying that what men can do, women can do better; hence, there is no need to give them any special treatment in an election.

“This is my opinion; I don’t believe we should give exceptional treatment to women. There are also humans, just men. Don’t they always tell us that what men can do, women can do even better?

"To contest for a position, it is hinged on the passion you have, the vigour and energy you have, and the analysis you have done as an individual.

If there is a woman who has done her analysis and realised that she is not going to win, I am not sure she will waste her resources and contest.”

He notes that competent women and strong or courageous women who take the step to contest an election will certainly win.

“However, there are several women with emotions who cannot participate in any political contest because of our dirty politics. Some of them stay away because they feel they will be insulted and denigrated by their opponents.

If we want to give women the platform to excel in the political space, we should also extend it to people living with disabilities.

“They are people we should ensure have representation in parliament. The political parties must put in measures like they do to encourage women and PWDs to participate in internal contests to ensure that we get more of them to contest.

He said everyone should get an equitable
platform to contest, so those who the voters vote for will emerge as winners.

He also stated that some men would rather promote women’s agendas than women themselves, emphasising that women are their own enemy.