Gender and elections

May 30, 2005

Today was the general assembly of one of the cooperatives of the project ILMC that is not doing so well. In fact, it was supposed to be held last week but it was postponed twice at the last minute. At on the said day, it was again moved from morning to afternoon. But in Vietnam, they often do change meeting times with little prior notice, and somehow this does not seem to be a problem. This coop only has 24 members, mostly women, compared to the other ones that usually have closer to a hundred.

I have had many discussions with my colleagues about what to do with this cooperative since the project’s strategy is to no longer support the ones that are not feasible. I believe this to be best as this avoids us wasting time and allows us to put our energies where things have some chances of success. But my colleague Thu insisted that we should give this coop another chance. I refused to begin with, since we only have one year left to the project and this coop has not managed to market any product for its members. But then I agree with her that if the members do end up having a proposition, I would listen and be open. So once the official reports are read, the open discussion that follows is dynamic. Many women express their opinions and comment that the board of directors has done nothing all year even tho they have all benefited from training. Still, the board has never consulted members who are unhappy with how the cooperative is being managed. Just then, the chairman announces his withdrawal from the board, and then I present to the members the project’s strategy for the last year, and emphasize that we will not longer support coops that are not viable. So they have 2 choices: either find a good business venture and do a simple business plan, or close the coop and some members can join another one. In the end they say that they still believe that the coop can make things work.

It is then time for the elections, and I have high hopes that one of the women will become our first coop chairwoman. But when comes the time to propose candidates, all women claim that they do not want to run for the position of chairperson. They all refuse, so the names of 3 men are then proposed. The first one says he’s too old and claims he knows nothing of the management of a cooperative. The second one is in fact the vice-chairman and since he holds a position his name should not have been put forth. And the last one even less, since he is already a member of the control board. Each of the three candidates express their reluctance to being chairman, so I remind them the importance of choosing someone who wants to take on the challenge of managing the coop, if they are to change the cap and develop business activities. And I also question them on the fact that no women wanted to be candidates when in fact they expressed great views on development strategies for their cooperative. But they answer that they are too busy. So then the assembly votes and the vice-chair becomes chairman. A second vote then follows to fill his post, and 2 women are proposed. The winner wanted to withdraw, but the Vietnamese culture doesn’t allow her to do so. She must take on the responsibility as given to her by the members - democracy with Vietnamese flavor. But I am not sure that these new leaders will do what it takes to save this cooperative. It will most likely continue without goals, and simply close once the project is over…

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