Elections

The 22 years old Saraswati Nepali is the mom of two kids and lives approximately five hours' drive (and five hours walk) away from the headquarter of Karnali Province, Surkhet—a place that paid the heaviest of prices in the 10 year-long armed conflict from 1996-2006. Her first son is eight years old, and her second son is four and half years old, almost as old as her term of office as a ward member in Shiwalaya Rural Municipality (RM) of Karnali Province.

Saraswati did not go for campaigning before the elections. She didn’t even ask for an election ticket. All the work was done by her family members, especially her husband, who is a teacher. Saraswati assumes, it is because of his influence she got the ticket to fight the election. After four and half years she now understands fully that it was rather because of the reservation for Dalit women in the Ward Committee of local governments (LGs) that she got the ticket. 

Click here to read the full article published by International IDEA on 3 March 2022.

A furious crowd gathered in central Seoul last month to protest against the policies of a man who isn't even in power.

Waving signs and wearing white sashes emblazoned with the words "Vote for Women," they accused presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol of attempting to appeal to anti-feminists to garner support ahead of the election.

"You don't deserve to be a presidential candidate, Yoon," the mainly female crowd chanted. "Go away."

The protest highlighted how heated South Korea's gender war has become ahead of the country's March 9 presidential vote, with both leading candidates wading into the issue to win over young voters who are increasingly split along gender lines.

Click here to read the full article published by CNN on 9 March 2022.

For the first time ever, 55,000 more women than men will be electing its next legislature.

Manipur is all set to elect its 12th state legislative assembly as it goes to polls in a two-phase election, with the electorate voting on 28 February and 5 March 2022. In a fever-pitched campaign, which saw party dissent, pre-poll violence and defections, another reality stands out in a stark manner– low participation of women in elections. Only 6% of the total contestants are women.

Manipur has more women voters than men, the first time in its history, according to data from the electoral rolls. For the first time ever, 55,000 more women than men will be electing its next legislature. In a state where women have led social and political resistance movements from colonial to the more contemporary times against state repression, we seek to understand why their role in electoral politics is yet to match with both their numbers as well as their significance in society.

Click here to read the full article published by EastMojo on 26 February 2022.

The plan to have five regional seats reserved for women beginning in the general election this year has been shelved, a senior government official told a parliamentary committee yesterday.

Ivan Pomaleu, the secretary to the Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council, told the committee looking into gender-based violence, that Cabinet on Dec 15 last year directed some State agencies to deliberate on the matter.

“The directive was that we engage with party leaders (to get) their views, which we did towards the end of July,” he said.

“(But) only two political parties gave their views; the others didn’t.”

Pomaleu said in terms of timing, “we could potentially work on getting the changes in the next parliament – (but) certainly not in this parliament”.

Click here to read the full article published by The National on 4 March 2022.

In this In brief, the authors consider lessons learned in the aftermath of women candidates’ defeat in the 18 November 2021 general election. They identify five intractable barriers to women’s election in Tonga: voters’ expectations of reciprocity in exchange for electoral support; deeply entrenched perceptions of men’s legitimacy as political leaders; untimely support for women candidates; an inhospitable political environment for electoral gender quotas; and a lack of accountability on gender equality commitments.

Click here to read the full article.

As election campaign enters final stages, the two leading candidates have been accused of pandering to sexism to win the votes of aggrieved young men.

The identity of South Korea’s next leader will be determined this week by the economy, housing prices and incomes, but the road to the presidential Blue House will also be dotted with the wreckage of the country’s poisonous gender politics.

Click here to read the full article published by The Guardian on 7 March 2022.