A flashmob meeting of civil society in support of the adoption of a minimum 40% quota of women’s representation in the decisional bodies was staged on February 28. The event involved MPs who said that they support this initiative, IPN reports.
Ecaterina Mardarovici, executive director of the Women’s Political Club 50/50, said they decided to stage the flashmob meeting and other events because the MPs can make changes to the Electoral Code during several more months. “The ensuring of equal rights for women and men is an indicator of the democratization level of society. We do not want violence in Parliament. We are sure that if there are more women in the legislative body, they will positively influence its decisions,” she stated.
Deputy Speaker Liliana Palihovici said she will make effort to promote the bill providing for the institution of a women’s representation quota in Parliament. “I want more women to be involved in the decision-making process. When a woman becomes involved in taking decisions, she thinks more about the social effect rather than the political one,” she said.
MP Andrei Vacarciuc said he will try to convince the other men in Parliament that such a quota is necessary, while MP Corina Fusu stated that initiatives are needed to join all the parties and gender equality is a very good idea.
In the parliamentary elections of 2005, the women candidates represented 29%, while in 2010 – 28.1%. Three bills to institute a women’s representation quota for elections have been submitted until now. One was put forward by a group of Liberal-Democratic MPs, another one was drafted by the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family, while the third was proposed by the Central Election Commission.
