3 Although grassroots movements often campaign forcefully for minority rights and inclusion, these movements have not constituted themselves as political parties. Consequently, they are not able to present candidates for election. Of course, money is a major determinant in running a successful election campaign. The larger mainstream political parties typically have access to public and private sources of funding that new or small parties simply do not. Parties that specifically represent minority interests often fall into this second category. Many members of parliament argue forcefully that special measures, such as reserved seats or a requirement for political parties to include minorities as electoral candidates, are the only way to address systematically the exclusion of minorities. Yet, others reject, equally forcefully, all forms of affirmative action in favour of minorities. They argue that political parties must look inside themselves and realize that diversity is the way of the future in multicultural societies. The obstacles faced by minorities in entering parliament are largely the same that women face. Male dominated political parties, inequality in society as well as lack of access to funding have for generations excluded women from gaining access to parliament. It is therefore not uninteresting to note that where women are now able to overcome these obstacles and enter parliament in significant numbers, it is through a combination of measures which invariably include a massive doses of awareness raising campaigns and some form of quota or affirmative action.