The only woman ever to be elected to Parliament in Solomon Islands says its disappointing more women won't be running in next month's election.
The Solomon Islands Electoral Commission believes 23 of the 509 candidates standing in the August 4 election are women, down slighty from the 26 who stood in the 2006 election.
Hilda Kari, who's also a former president of the National Council of Women, says that falls short of her goal of having a woman standing in each of the 50 constituencies.
She says there is a need for reserved seats for women, because attitudes still persist that women are not fit to be MPs
"The attitude here in this country is still maintaining that the women are still the domestic keepers. They are still the wives that should stay at home, you know that kind of attitude is still in the minds of our population."
Hilda Kari, who's also a member of the OUR party, says she's happy her party will push for special seats for women if few are elected to Parliament this year.
