Elections

Mrs Freda Prempeh, Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North, at the weekend emphasised that a “Legislative Quota Seat” system is urgently required in Ghana’s electoral laws to consolidate the country’s fledging democracy.

“Legislative Quota Seat “, she explained, is a system that allocates specific percentage of parliamentary seats to women.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sunyani, Mrs Prempeh regretted that women participation in politics continued to dwindle though they represented about 52 percent of the national population.

One of the big headlines for the 2012 elections was the historic number of women elected to state and national offices. New Hampshire became the first state to elect an all women congressional delegation and a woman governor. The U.S.

“Men are from Mars and women are from Venus” may have been the title of a best-selling book, but it also emphasizes how women have always been depicted differently to men. It also happens in politics. Physical and psychological differences aside, women are indeed a special group in politics, women’s rights activists say.

We invite you to read the full article pulished March 28, 2014

A year ago, Egyptian politician and women's rights activist Mervat Tallawy defied the Muslim Brotherhood to spearhead the adoption of a U.N. blueprint to combat violence against women. Now she's back campaigning against conservatives to ensure that equality for women remains at the top of the U.N. agenda.

If what she and her family claims and what her voter identity card shows is true, she is 114. Pathumuthu (Fathima) Shahul will have her moment in the sun on April 10 when she becomes the oldest voter in Kerala, exercising her franchise at the Ambalamkunnu Anganwadi polling station in the Mavelikara Lok Sabha constituency.

Although the question whether she is the oldest voter in the State or the country might trigger a debate, the Kollam district administration has no doubt that she is the oldest voter in the district.

As many as 556 women contested from various national and regional parties during the 2009 general elections for the 15th Lok Sabha. Out of them 134 contested from the national parties, 27 state parties, 188 from registered parties (unrecognized) and 207 independents. 

When it came to parties in specific, BJP fielded 44 women contestants while INC fielded 43 women. Out of these, 23 women contestants from INC and 13 women contestants from BJP won the Elections. 

More work needs to be done post-elections in the Pacific to ensure Pacific countries do not remain at the bottom globally for gender equality in politics.