Eight Women World Leaders Convene

Eight of the world's 22 women who have held the office of president or prime minister gathered last night before a packed ARCO Forum to promote the role of women as leaders in government.

The discussion, moderated by Senior CNN Correspondent Judy Woodruff, included the present or former leaders of Canada, Lithuania, Bermuda, Dominica, Iceland, Poland, Nicaragua and Turkey.

Dame Eugenia Charles, the panelist boasting the longest tenure, was greeted with both respect and applause as she explained that female leaders--and male leaders--must be driven to improve the lives of their people.

"One must be full of fire to do what the people require to make their lives better," said Charles, the former prime minister of Dominica.

But Charles added that in order to make lives better a leader must be able to make unpopular decisions.

"You are there to follow their [the peoples'] wishes, but you also have to direct their wishes in the right direction," she said.

Former prime minister of Turkey Tansu Ciller said that female leaders are often expected to be weak in office.

Ciller said that while the Turkish political establishment expected her to make frequent compromises during her tenure, she defied its stereotypes.

"The image was such that I was supposed to be a compromiser. In a way I was defying authority--I was breaking taboos," she said.

The panel shared the opinion that women are generally only elected into office in times of great difficulty for their country.

Former prime minister of Lithuania Kazimiera Prunskiene lead her country from 1990 to 1991, as it sought independence from the former Soviet Union.

"To be in office at that time did not mean to enjoy power, just to have responsibility," she said. "Men left that to me very voluntarily."

Panelists also discussed the perception that men seek power while women seek influence.

Kim Campbell, the former prime minister of Canada, said that "for years women were fobbed off with: if they're a good girl they can have influence. Now we want power."

Each woman was very proud of her own contributions to future women leaders. Campbell said that her greatest contribution was showing both her contemporaries and the young that a woman can lead.

The only confrontation occurred when participants attacked Ciller for not holding to her campaign promises on education and her relationship to the nation's fundamentalist party.

She vigorously defended herself, saying she did the best for her people and the country as a whole.

The founder of the Council of Women Leaders and the former prime minister of Iceland, Vigdis Finnbogadottir, said that both male and female leaders often feel alone.

"Making a decision is a lonely job," she said. "Whatever the advice you are given, you are always alone when you make the decision and you alone bear the responsibility."

The panel ended the forum by anticipating the future when it would be natural, rather than exceptional, for women to lead their countries.

"There are still a lot of cultural barriers," Campbell said. "We have not established the naturalness of women leaders."