Elections

Local Government New Zealand today confirmed what many local election commentators have observed; that more of the voting public cast their ballots in favour of women candidates than ever before.

Women now make up over 42% of all local government elected members, above the percentage of women board directors in New Zealand’s private sector (24%) as well as the number of women in Parliament as at the most recent election (38%).

Observers say female candidates systematically threatened with physical, sexual violence to deter them from running.

In a city where politicians are earnestly vying for women’s votes who account for 46 per cent of Mumbai’s population, female participation in electoral politics remains abysmally low.

Of the total 334 candidates who will be fighting in the 36 Assembly seats of Mumbai, only 31 candidates are women, or just 9.3 per cent. Only 21 of the 36 Mumbai constituencies have a woman candidate.

The Network of Arab Women in Elections was launched Saturday in Tunis as part of a joint initiative involving the Arab Organisation for Electoral Management Bodies (ArabEMBs), the UNDP Regional Electoral Support Project and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).

The preliminary report on the observation of the elections, based on gender, conducted by the Tunisian Mediterranean Centre (TUNMED), called all the candidates to take into account the right of women voters in rural and border areas to take part in election campaigns, TUNMED Director Ahlem Nessiri said on Monday.

The body of mayoral candidate Karina García was found shot and incinerated in her car in the Cauca department of southern Colombia, on 1 September.

September elections in Afghanistan were expected to produce the country’s democratic transfer of power and a moral sign of social progress, however, it saw a record low turnout.

With a handful of women running for provincial seats, Afghanistan remains a hostile place for women with the Taliban controlling some parts of the country.