Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The support for female candidates from political parties for next year's general elections is very small, activists and politicians say.

"All decisions made by political parties, including the list of candidates, are decided by their male-dominated boards. Politics is still considered a man's world," activist Hetifah Sj Siswanda told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Hetifah, who was also chairwoman of the recent West Java Women's Congress, said most political parties did not educate their female candidates on politics.

She said the female candidates were only put on the list to meet the 30 percent quota requirement without giving them skills and without teaching them about political mapping and campaigning.

Hetifah said the province's first-ever female congress Sunday, which was attended by 350 female activists and politicians from various parties, agreed to support female legislative candidates.

"We will go to female candidates to talk with them and arrange campaign strategy in order to broaden their chances of election," she said.

Separately, Diah Pitaloka, a female legislative candidate from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) for Subang Legislative Council, said she had assisted a women's empowerment program involving 1,000 participants, in her electoral area of Tanjung Siang and Cisalak.

In the last minutes of registration of candidates, her party moved her to another electoral area of Blanakan, Ciasem and Patok Beusi.

"I was rejected by the party's local board. I was threatened by local party supporters wielding swords," the 31-year-old woman said, adding male members of the local board refused to be placed under her on the list.

Diah revealed that she had to sell her car worth Rp 25 million to finance her campaign activities. Her motto is: "Vote for female candidates".

"Politics is still very expensive. Our political culture is still evil and masculine, too. We should totally fight for it," the Padjadjaran University School of Journalism graduate said.