Elections

As prime minister, Julia Gillard remained instinctively private, consistently contained and, for a figure so much in the public eye, oddly enigmatic.

Jordanian female parliamentarians have come a long way in the ten years since the quota system was first introduced for the 2003 elections. Crucially, the quota system has succeeded in changing society’s attitudes, to the extent that women are now being directly elected to parliament without the help of a quota seat.

'Maybe women deserve men setting the agenda," a conservative female politician said Friday as emotions ran high over a study that showed men know more about politics than women, and that the gender gap was wider in Norway than in comparable countries such as Australia.

The 30 percent quota requirement for women was legally reaffirmed by the Constitutional Court earlier this year.

This is certainly good news for women hoping to run for seats in the upcoming legislative election, as the ruling has reinforced the role of women in public policy making.

But, almost all political parties have complained about the difficulties in reaching the quota.