Elections
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Myriam Spiteri Debono, a notary and former parliamentary speaker, is set to become the 11th President of Malta on 4 April.
Appointing the next president appeared an impossible task until a couple of weeks ago, as the appointment required a two-thirds majority in parliament instead of a simple majority, as in previous years.
But the Prime Minister and Opposition leader found a unifying candidate in Spiteri Debono, with both sides of Parliament gushing praise when approving her nomination on Wednesday.
But who is Myriam Spiteri Debono, the former Speaker whose nomination managed to break a deadlock that could have left Malta without a president.
A Labour stalwart
Spiteri Debono, born in Rabat (Gozo) on 25 October 1952, studied English Literature and Linguistics at the Royal University of Malta, graduating in 1973. She later studied to become a notary public in 1980.
Apart from her notarial duties, Spiteri Debono’s career included teaching in government secondary schools and holding administrative roles in the tax department.
During her university years, Spiteri Debono was among the founding members of the Labour Student Group, and from 1980, was actively involved in the Balzan MLP committee.
Her political engagement deepened in 1982 when she was elected to the party’s national executive. Serving as the MLP propaganda secretary and general secretary of the MLP women’s group from 1983 to 1984, she later assumed the presidency of the women’s group in 1995. She also chaired the co-operatives board between 1982 and 1985.
Read here the full article published by Malta Today on 1 April 2024.
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Women constituted only eight per cent of the total 2,823 candidates in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections, with political activists saying it reflects a deeper issue of gender bias and that talk of women's empowerment rings hollow.
There were 135 women candidates in the first phase of the elections and 100 in the second phase, bringing the combined total for the first two phases to 235.
In the first phase of the elections on April 19, there total number of candidates in the fray was 1,625. In the second phase held on April 26, 1,198 candidates contested the elections.
Of the 135 women candidates in the first phase, Tamil Nadu had the highest share at 76. However, that figure accounted for just 8% of the total candidates in the State.
Read here the full article published by The Hindu on 28 April 2024.
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Gender-based violence has crept up in the digital era in the form of online violence against women and girls, especially affecting women with political ambitions. Part of this violence entails gendered disinformation. This form of disinformation uses gender stereotypes to attack women and influence debates by promoting certain political, social or economic goals. It seeks to intimidate, discredit, humiliate and embarrass women, and push public debates.
According to Byte Bullies, a report by feminist think tank Pollicy, two out of five women candidates experienced sexual harassment on their X (formerly Twitter) accounts during the 2022 Kenyan general election. Added to this, 55.7 percent of Facebook accounts belonging to women candidates received some form of online violence compared to 35.4 percent for Facebook accounts of men candidates. Online violence manifested in the form of sexual harassment, hate speech, trolling, body-shaming and disinformation.
Seemingly, a woman’s personal life supersedes her résumé. “A closer look at the keyword network of sexual comments revealed underlying themes of comments attacking women’s appearance with words like “old” and “ass,” as well as themes of discouragement with words like “pathetic” and “nonsense.” Data also showed the two greatly targeted women candidates as being Anne Waiguru (who was vying for the position of governor for Kirinyaga County) and Martha Karua (2022 candidate for the position of deputy president.),” according to the Byte Bullies reports.
Read here the full article published by Global Voices on 25 April 2024.
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As Togo prepares for the legislative and regional elections on April 29, 2024, a significant number of women are in the electoral race, defying traditional norms and expectations.
With 2,348 validated candidacies for the legislative elections and 113 seats up for grabs, some 593 women are in the running for parliament and 438 women for the regional elections, according to figures obtained from the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Among these bold candidates are some remarkable personalities who aspire to bring a new perspective and more balanced representation to the political arena.
Such is the case of Victoire Dogbé, current Prime Minister of Togo and UNIR candidate. Touring the town of Vogan, she wooed voters by highlighting the work already accomplished and the importance of continuing along this path.
"We're ready to vote. And we need to cast a useful vote so that the work begun can continue," declared Dogbé at a campaign meeting on Sunday afternoon in the village of Klologo Gagnon.
Her political commitment has been hailed by citizens such as Adzovi Gati, a local farmer, who sees her as a guarantee for the future of Togolese women.
Read here the full article published by Africa News on 23 April 2024.
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With more people set to vote in elections than at any time in history, 2024 is being touted as a test of democracies’ strength around the world, but one thing remains in noticeably short supply – female leadership candidates.
Analysis from the Guardian shows that of the 42 elections – both presidential and parliamentary – in which the country’s leader is being selected and where candidates have been declared, just 18 have women in the running to be leader. In just a handful of countries do women have a reasonable chance of winning – based on polling averages and the historical results of the parties they are running for.
With a combined population of more than two billion, elections in the world’s biggest democracies – the US, Indonesia and India – have, or had, no female frontrunners. The same is true of votes in the UK, Pakistan and South Africa.
Read here the full article published by The Guardian on 22 April 2024.
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Phase 1 of the General Elections 2024 is over. There is still a long way to go before June 4 when the votes will be counted. Till then, we will be inundated with endless speculation, conjecture, guesses, accusatory statements by opposing sides — and the ritual photographs of women lining up to vote, holding aloft their election identity cards.
That image has become a cliché. But behind it is a story that has changed little, much like the photo itself. It is the story of Indian women and politics, why they are there, why they are missing, and whether anything will change in the near future.
Going by the candidates already in the fray this election, it seems as if change, if any, is incremental. Women constituted only 8% of the candidates in the first phase on April 19. This could change slightly by the end of the election cycle.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, women were only 9% of the candidates. And fewer were elected. In fact, the success rate of women candidates was a little over 10% in 2019.
Also, although there were more women in the current Lok Sabha — 78 — than previously, they added up to only 14%. These low numbers contrast sharply with the increase in women voters. In 2019, their numbers were marginally more than that of men — 67.18% women compared to 67.01% men.
Read here the full article published by The Hindu on 19 April 2024.
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