Parliamentary Elections will take place on 18 November, 2021. The Electoral Commission of Tonga continues to provide assistance and support on all electoral matters to electors, polling officials, returning officers and candidates. Photo: Electoral Commission - Kingdom of Tonga
The head of Tonga's Women and Children's Crisis Centre (WCCC) says too many important issues are being decided without enough female representation in the country's parliament.
WCCC director Ofa Guttenbeil-Likiliki said for the past 70 years, only seven women have been elected as people's MPs.
"To me, that's not progress - that's a national concern."
Tongans are due to cast their ballots in the general election next Wednesday, 20 November. Of the 71 candidates vying to be one of 17 people's representatives in parliament, just eight are women.
The nobles have a separate election process, which results in nine nobles' representatives to parliament.
Guttenbeil-Likiliki said the drop in women's participation in elections in the past 10 years was concerning.
ʻOfa Guttenbeil-Likiliki Photo: Facebook / FALE ALEA 'O TONGA
"After 2005, women's participation in elections has…never really truly stabilised. It's gone up and down, but overall, it's trending downward.
"When compared against the total number of registered candidates, it's quite alarming."
She said the lack of progress on two key issues showed why women were needed to champion women's rights in parliament.
"One of them is the parliament have actually unanimously endorsed the redefinition of rape in our legislation in terms of a bill.
"The current definition of rape is limited to penile penetration, which sees all other forms of rape as indecent assault and has a much lesser penalty."
The bill was now sitting with the Privy Council of Tonga, which was the final step before it received Royal Assent from the Monarch, currently King Tupou VI.
"But it's been three years now so it would be good to get government support to see what Privy Council requires - whether it's information or peer-to-peer, high level dialogue to get that endorsed by the King," Guttenbeil-Likiliki said.
The second, long-running issue was women's land rights, she said.
Currently, women cannot hold titles to property in Tonga. Whereas males, according to the Land Act, are entitled to two pieces of land - a tax and town allotment - when they turn 16. A tax allotment is usually about eight and one-quarter acres and used for growing crops. A town allotment is a much smaller land parcel, intended for a house.
A report from the Royal Land Commission, completed in 2012, examined women's land rights, alongside a range of land law issues.
It recommended the law be changed so that women be allowed to apply for a town allotment when they turn 21. It also recommended the age for land eligibility for Tongan males be raised to 21.
Guttenbeil-Likiliki suspected the report had been "collecting dust" on a shelf somewhere.
"All the governments leading up to the current one haven't addressed some of the key recommendations coming out of that report."
She added that the lack of land ownership options for women had contributed to Tonga's brain drain.
"A lot of women choose to leave Tonga if they do not have access to land through a husband who is the heir of a piece of land and has a registered title. If they don't have access via that way, or via their father in terms of leasing the land - because women can lease land - then they opt to leave Tonga for further opportunities.
"And that's quite sad. This is an issue that we're looking at this new government to prioritise," she said.
Of the 71 candidates vying to be one of 17 people's representatives in parliament, just eight are women. Photo: Mary Lyn Fonua
No women were elected to parliament in the previous 2021 election. However current health minister, Dr Ana Akau'ola, was appointed to her position from outside parliament at the beginning of the year by King Tupou VI.
Guttenbeil-Likiliki said fair representation of women in parliament was critical to Tonga's overall progress.
"We bring different lived experiences, but that difference is not symbolic. It's practical, it's real, and… it changes the kinds of questions we ask, the kind of policies we prioritise and the human realities behind the laws we pass."
Young people 'disengaged'
Meanwhile, the Civil Society Forum of Tonga was hoping younger voters turn out at the polls.
The NGO has recently finished a national, six-week civic education drive that focused on increasing awareness, particularly among younger community members.
Interim executive director Sesimani Lokotui said some as young as age 12 attended sessions, which were part of a programme run with Balance of Power, Tupou Tertiary Institute and Tonga Electoral Commission.
"A lot of [younger people] were not interested because they feel disengaged, disconnected," Lokotui said.
"They just feel very out of place because they don't know where and how their role leads international development.
"But once you've once you've pointed it out, it's very easy for things to fall into place."
She believed the six-week programme showed how civic education could increase voter engagement.
On polling day, voting stations for the general public are due to open at 9am and close at 4pm.
The nobles voting process is due to take place at 10am to midday on the same day.
