Tweet
ARMENIA: WOMEN STILL SHUT OUT OF LOCAL POLITICS
By Gayane Lazarian - Caucasus
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #658
Sept 14 2012
UK
Quota system exists for national elections, and some argue it should
apply to female representation at local level.
The number of women standing in local elections in Armenia has barely
changed from four years ago, despite government pledges to increase
participation. Activists are now saying it might be is time for local
polls to be subject to the same gender quotas as national elections.
In a first round of local elections held on September 9, only nine
women were elected to a total of 397 posts as mayor or local government
chief. All nine already held the post and were simply re-elected. If
women ended up winning only two per cent of the posts, it would have
been hard for them to do much better since only five per cent of
those who stood for these municipal posts were female. More than a
third of female candidates pulled out before election day.
"In terms of [female] candidate participation, the numbers are almost
the same [as the last polls]; the change is insignificant change, a
difference of only ten," Tigran Mukuchyan, head of Armenia's Central
Election Commission, said.
The election commission has yet to announce results for the 535 local
assembly elections held at the same time, as recounts are taking place
at some polling stations, so the scale of female representation there
remains unknown.
Another round of local elections will take place on September 23,
but all the signs are that women will not enjoy much success. No
Armenian city has ever had a female mayor, and only 24 out of 866
villages are headed by a woman.
This consistently poor showing has prompted experts like Tamara
Hovnatanyan of the ProMedia-Gender group to call for a quota system.
"The government's obligations under its Millenium Goals programme
require that by 2015, ten per cent of leadership positions in local
government must be filled by women. At the moment, it's only two per
cent," she said. "It's already obvious this cannot be achieved in
the time assigned for it."
A quota would not an entirely radical step, since such a system is
already in use in parliamentary elections, where parties must ensure
that women account for 20 per cent of the candidate names on the lists
they submit for use in proportional representation. In practice,
however, the method has fallen a long way short of ensuring fair
representation for women. (See Women Fail to Gain Ground in Armenian
Election on the May legislative polls.)
In Armenia's second city, Gyumri, there were just seven women among
the 71 candidates standing for 21 seats on the municipal assembly. Not
one got in. No woman ever has.
Local businesswoman Karine Mkrthchyan got just 140 votes, and
attributes her lack of success to the largesse distributed by some
other candidates.
"Economic necessity stops people making their own choices," she said.
"In one part of the city, they slaughtered animals and handed out a
kilogram of meat to every voter. At the other end of the city, they
gave people 1,000 drams [2.50 US dollars] or offered to top up their
phone balance."
In the town of Goris, Ruzanna Torosyan was the only woman standing
but won a seat on the local council.
She doubts a gender quota would change much, and thinks it is up to
women to improve their own chances in politics.
"It isn't men stopping us. It's very important look at how prepared a
woman is, how presentable she is, whether she writes her own speeches
and gets her ideas across to people," she said. "An artificial
requirement won't give us anything."
Since women with a higher education outnumber men six to four, there
must be reasons why they are shut out of politics.
Money is one. Mrkrtchyan pointed out that access to funding was often
a practical barrier to women hoping to enter politics. Women often do
not control money or assets, and may need their husband's permission
to spend money on election campaigning.
"The most important thing is for women to break down the stereotypes
in their own families before they can enter civic or political life,"
she said.
Lilit Zakaryan, a member of the Association of Women with a University
Education and an expert on gender issues, said female candidates
tended to come from the healthcare or education sectors, but were
held back by the perception they would not cope with the big decisions
of government.
"Why should an uneducated man be able to do this, but not an educated
woman?" she asked. "Women are responsible and should be able to do
a lot in local government. If men raise global issues, women are
involved in the small social issues that are part of life, as well."
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenia-women-still-shut-out-local-politics
From: Baghdasarian
By Gayane Lazarian - Caucasus
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #658
Sept 14 2012
UK
Quota system exists for national elections, and some argue it should
apply to female representation at local level.
The number of women standing in local elections in Armenia has barely
changed from four years ago, despite government pledges to increase
participation. Activists are now saying it might be is time for local
polls to be subject to the same gender quotas as national elections.
In a first round of local elections held on September 9, only nine
women were elected to a total of 397 posts as mayor or local government
chief. All nine already held the post and were simply re-elected. If
women ended up winning only two per cent of the posts, it would have
been hard for them to do much better since only five per cent of
those who stood for these municipal posts were female. More than a
third of female candidates pulled out before election day.
"In terms of [female] candidate participation, the numbers are almost
the same [as the last polls]; the change is insignificant change, a
difference of only ten," Tigran Mukuchyan, head of Armenia's Central
Election Commission, said.
The election commission has yet to announce results for the 535 local
assembly elections held at the same time, as recounts are taking place
at some polling stations, so the scale of female representation there
remains unknown.
Another round of local elections will take place on September 23,
but all the signs are that women will not enjoy much success. No
Armenian city has ever had a female mayor, and only 24 out of 866
villages are headed by a woman.
This consistently poor showing has prompted experts like Tamara
Hovnatanyan of the ProMedia-Gender group to call for a quota system.
"The government's obligations under its Millenium Goals programme
require that by 2015, ten per cent of leadership positions in local
government must be filled by women. At the moment, it's only two per
cent," she said. "It's already obvious this cannot be achieved in
the time assigned for it."
A quota would not an entirely radical step, since such a system is
already in use in parliamentary elections, where parties must ensure
that women account for 20 per cent of the candidate names on the lists
they submit for use in proportional representation. In practice,
however, the method has fallen a long way short of ensuring fair
representation for women. (See Women Fail to Gain Ground in Armenian
Election on the May legislative polls.)
In Armenia's second city, Gyumri, there were just seven women among
the 71 candidates standing for 21 seats on the municipal assembly. Not
one got in. No woman ever has.
Local businesswoman Karine Mkrthchyan got just 140 votes, and
attributes her lack of success to the largesse distributed by some
other candidates.
"Economic necessity stops people making their own choices," she said.
"In one part of the city, they slaughtered animals and handed out a
kilogram of meat to every voter. At the other end of the city, they
gave people 1,000 drams [2.50 US dollars] or offered to top up their
phone balance."
In the town of Goris, Ruzanna Torosyan was the only woman standing
but won a seat on the local council.
She doubts a gender quota would change much, and thinks it is up to
women to improve their own chances in politics.
"It isn't men stopping us. It's very important look at how prepared a
woman is, how presentable she is, whether she writes her own speeches
and gets her ideas across to people," she said. "An artificial
requirement won't give us anything."
Since women with a higher education outnumber men six to four, there
must be reasons why they are shut out of politics.
Money is one. Mrkrtchyan pointed out that access to funding was often
a practical barrier to women hoping to enter politics. Women often do
not control money or assets, and may need their husband's permission
to spend money on election campaigning.
"The most important thing is for women to break down the stereotypes
in their own families before they can enter civic or political life,"
she said.
Lilit Zakaryan, a member of the Association of Women with a University
Education and an expert on gender issues, said female candidates
tended to come from the healthcare or education sectors, but were
held back by the perception they would not cope with the big decisions
of government.
"Why should an uneducated man be able to do this, but not an educated
woman?" she asked. "Women are responsible and should be able to do
a lot in local government. If men raise global issues, women are
involved in the small social issues that are part of life, as well."
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenia-women-still-shut-out-local-politics
From: Baghdasarian