IN March 2006, Portia Simpson Miller created history by becoming Jamaica’s first female prime minister, a position she copped after defeating three male hopefuls in the race for the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) presidency, with 1,775 delegate votes. Her closest rival, Dr Peter Phillips was outscored by 237 votes.

Simpson Miller joined the likes of Dominica’s Dame Eugenia Charles and Guyana’s Janet Jagan as the only women to become heads of government in the English-speaking Caribbean.

“A woman time now,” thousands chanted, as Jamaicans here and abroad celebrated the opportunity for her to nurture an ailing country.

This election, Simpson Miller will be joined by nine other women in her party, as she seeks to extend her assignment as the first female leader of the nation.

On the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) side, seven women are hoping to outdo their rivals.

Of the total, two female candidates served as members of parliament in their constituencies – Shahine Robinson (North East St Ann) and Olivia Babsy Grange (St Catherine Central). The PNP had Maxine Henry-Wilson (South East St Andrew), Portia Simpson Miller (South West St Andrew) and Sharon Haye-Webster (South Central St Catherine).

But even with this involvement, the Bureau of Women’s Affairs says too few women are opting to be involved in politics.

Indeed, the PNP list represents just 10 women of a total 60 candidates, with the JLP’s team being led by 53 men of the 60 candidates.

The PNP candidates, along with Simpson Miller, are Doneth Brown-Reid, Southern Trelawny; Lisa Hanna, South East St Ann; Rosemarie Shaw, Western St Thomas; Maxine Henry-Wilson, South East St Andrew; Andrea Moore, West Rural St Andrew; Natalie Neita-Headley, East Central St Catherine; Phyllis Mitchell, North East St Catherine; Sharon Haye-Webster, South Central St Catherine; and Anne-Marie Warburton, North West St Elizabeth.

The JLP has Sally Porteous, running for Central Manchester; Joan Gordon-Webley, South East St Andrew; Joyce Young, Western St Andrew; Shahine Robinson, North East St Ann; Dr Sandra Nesbeth, North East St Catherine; Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, Central St Catherine; and Marisa Dalrymple, Southern Trelawny.

In a recent report, Women’s Rights in Power and Decision Making: A look at Women’s Involvement in Representational Politics, the Bureau points to the “minimal involvement of women in politics”, despite stellar qualifications. Those women running have the qualifications and experience on par with men – there are attorneys, businesswomen, teachers, medical doctors and career politicians.

“[But] simply put, the Jamaican people are generally not accepting of female political leaders and as such representational politics will persist in being male dominated,” the Bureau said.

The report pointed to the October 2002 General Elections where only six women were elected to represent their respective constituencies.

“Based on the aforesaid, it can be stated that too few women are opting for representational politics,” the Bureau said.

In fact, the Bureau said that women who opt to enter representational politics face numerous challenges, “especially as it relates to overcoming the barriers created by the patriarchal organisation and traditions of both political parties.”

During the PNP presidential campaign, Simpson Miller got loads of flak from her own party members who undermined her competence for the post, even after years of service.

Former health minister, John Junor, as he launched his support for the rival Dr Phillips, had then questioned the contribution of Simpson Miller, noting that though she had led the influential PNP women’s movement for a long time, she did not have the support of the leadership of that organisation.

While stating that “she is a very, very popular politician”, he also questioned Simpson Miller’s contribution as a Minister. At that time, she was Minister of Local Government, Youth and Sport, and had served in a number of other Cabinet positions including Minister of Labour and Minister of Tourism.

And K D Knight and other members of the Phillips campaign openly questioned Simpson Miller’s intellectual capacity to handle complex international issues, and sought to position Phillips as the better candidate because of his academic qualifications.

But the results of an Observer Stone Poll published last August showed that a significantly higher number of women saw Simpson Miller as the better leader for running the country.

Explained the Bureau’s report: “Women’s involvement in representational politics is a democratic gesture that speaks to a country’s level of social development or attempts to improve the social conditions of the most vulnerable in the society. Women’s involvement at this level can also help in the development of policies necessary to enhance not only their lives but also the lives of other women and men.”

But what explains the low levels of representation?

The Bureau explains that the issue of low female involvement in representational politics is not new to the Caribbean, as historically, women’s involvement in politics was always significantly lower than that of men.

One explanation given for the Jamaican situation is that “it would appear that the dominant political parties do not necessarily field new candidates and this could be part of the reason why the male/female ratio has not seen any marked improvement over the years.

“The candidates for the 2007 General Elections have not been modified to a large extent from the last General Elections,” the Bureau said. “This can be attributed to the fact that people tend to use tradition and popularity of candidates to decide who will have their vote and thus parties tend to go with the safest pick to ensure a high election rate of candidates. As such, the dominant political parties have always tended to play it safe by repeating candidates and feeding into the patriarchal demands of society, thus resulting in the low involvement rate of women.”