By Mbono Mdluli | 2018-05-23
Mbabane West MP Johane Shongwe holds the view that women should seek permission from their husbands in order to successfully get elected into parliament.
Shongwe said women had a challenge because they did not trust themselves and they did not support one another.
He raised this on Monday during the debate of the election of women members to the House of Assembly Bill, 2018.
The Bill was tabled by Lobamba MP Michael Masilela, who was acting chairperson of the ministry of justice and constitutional affairs portfolio committee.
Masilela urged his fellow MPs to hastily pass the Bill because there was need for it to be enacted before the legislature was dissolved in preparation for the upcoming elections.
He said by the time of the elections, the legislation should be in place to enable the representation of women to be at least 30 per cent in Parliament.
It was during the debate session that MP Shongwe stood up and made his controversial submission that got a number of MPs mumbling.
difficult
“It is difficult for women to nominate one another in chiefdoms. Therefore, it is advisable for them to get permission from their husbands. I was nominated by a woman to be where I am right now, to show that most women would rather nominate a man than another woman,” Shongwe said.
The legislator further said women MPs would sometimes attend workshops at places far away from their homes.
This would mean they would have to go for days without sleeping next to their husbands at home.
MP Shongwe said this could pose a problem for the husband, especially if his permission was not sought by the wife before taking the politics path.
Shongwe’s submission was thrown out of the window by his fellow MPs, who viewed his submissions as biased.
important
MP Thuli Dladla acknowledged that it was important for women to inform their husbands if they wanted to stand for elections because even budgets were affected during such times.
But she said it was equally important for men to inform their wives if they wanted to stand for elections because they would need each other’s support.
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