Civil society pleads for higher number of women in lists of candidates

Civil society welcomes the approval by the Government of amendments to the Election Code, whereby it is introduced an obligatory 30% quota for female candidates in elections, but considers that this figure could be higher. Members of the National Participation Council believe that this quota may be higher, of about 40%, the Council’s president Sorin Mereacre stated for Info-Prim Neo. Many monitoring reports prepared during the election campaign showed that women’s chances of entering executive bodies are small and thus they are usually written towards the end of the lists of candidates. ”We recommend holding discussions in Parliament, involving journalists and opinion leaders. We should see if this is the only solution possible or we can address the issue from a different angle. I think this problem is very important and we should treat it very seriously,” Sorin Mereacre said. He also said the views that the women’s place is not in politics and there are not many women who can hold public posts are dismissive. According to Mereacre, the more active participation of women in decision-making should be encouraged. The amendments to the Election Code, which oblige the parties running in elections to have at least 30% of female candidates in their lists, were approved by the executive on January 19. In 2005, the women represented 29% of the candidates in elections, in 2009 – 27.7%, in June 2009 – 28.8%, while in 2010 – 28.1%.