Elections

A country ranking among the world’s lowest for political participation by women has enormous social bias to overcome.

Papua New Guinea is about to issue the writs for its national elections to formally start a campaign that will culminate with two weeks of voting from 9–22 July. Historically, elections in PNG have been fraught with violence and fraud, the political landscape dominated by male politicians practising what is often called “big man” politics. On the latter score, at least, this year promises to be little different.  

With men having easier access to money, resources and power, women candidates have often found it difficult to challenge. The last parliament in PNG was an all-male affair with not a single female MP in the chamber. Efforts to foster temporary special measures to support female candidates have either failed or become so protracted as to be practically meaningless. A proposed bill for five reserved seats for women candidates representing each of the four regions and the National Capital District has been shelved ­– it is now promised to be debated after the coming election. Getting the measures passed before the polls proved not to be a priority.

Click here to read the full article published by The Interpreter on 10 May 2022.

Diversity advocates welcome new additions but say there is still a long way to go before parliament reflects Australian society

Australia’s new parliament looks set to be the most diverse, but there’s still a long way to go, diversity advocates say.

For the first time, both Northern Territory Senate spots will be held by Indigenous women – Labor’s Malarndirri McCarthy was re-elected and would be joined by the Country Liberal’s Jacinta Price.

Click here to read the full article published by The Guardian on 23 May 2022.

The result announcement of elections held on May 13 have revealed two women candidates as the winners of mayoral elections in two local levels of Rautahat district. 

Reena Kumari Shah and Kaushalaya Devi will hold office as mayors in Maulapur and Ishnath municiaplities in Rautahat. 

Shah, contesting under the CPN-UML ticket this election, has claimed the post for a second consecutive term. During the 2074 local level elections, Shah had been elected as the mayor as a CPN-Maoist candidate.

Click here to read the full article published by The Himalayan on 22 May 2022.

Within the framework of cooperation between International IDEA and the Francophone network for competencies in elections (Réseau des compétences électorales francophone, RECEF), a report was published (in French) on “Equality between women and men within EMBs and in electoral processes: challenges and courses of action for the EMBs of RECEF”.

The purpose of this report is to provide a clear picture on equality issues in electoral processes within La Francophonie, which is an integral part of the RECEF's Women's Forum's action plan for the 2020-2022 period. In order to provide a complete picture of these issues, three main themes are presented in this report: women's political representation, equality in electoral processes and equality within EMBs.

The document is based on the content of the literature, reports and other writings available on the issue of gender equality in electoral processes and EMBs. 103 works dated from 2014 to 2020 were identified. That was completed by information extracted from international electoral databases, including the International IDEA’s Gender Quotas Database.  

Click here to read the full article published by International IDEA on 19 May 2022.

Good evening Australia.

It's the day after the election and the results are still rolling in from across the country.

If you've been off enjoying a Sunday sesh or the sunshine, here are the answers to five quick questions to catch you up.

What's the latest result?

So far, the ABC has called 72 seats for Labor.

But it is still not known if it will claim the 76 seats needed to form a majority government.

The Coalition has won 52 seats.

The Greens have won three seats, with a fourth one still in play.

Click here to read the full article published by ABC News on 22 May 2022.

The Minister of Interior, Bassam Al-Mawlawi, officially announced the results of the parliamentary elections in which 1,043 candidates competed for seats of power.

Women’s participation was remarkable this time, with an initial number of 155, making up nearly 15% of the sum of contestants. However, 113 of them remained in the race till the end.

Disappointingly, despite surveys stating that 89% of Lebanese voters are more likely to vote for a female candidate, and the notable number of more women than men voting in areas like Beirut II, only 8 women succeeded to secure seats in the parliament.

This means an increase of only 2 seats from the previous parliament, knowing that the Lebanese parliament consists of 128 seats.

6.25% is the percentage of women’s representation in the new Lebanese Legislative Parliament. The proportion is low and weak, according to observers and analysts.

However, 4 out of the 8 women now elected represent the forces of change.

Click here to read the full article published by The 961 on 17 May 2022.