Serbia: One in Five MPs are Women

June 9, 2008 – (OneWorld) The Center of Modern Skills (CMS) warns the public about the fact that the new Skupstina (Serbian Parliament) again doesn’t provide for adequate representation of women. The official lists of Members of Parliament announced by the State Election Commission show that just 21.6 percent of the MPs are women.

In spite of campaign claims by political parties that they will promote gender equality, very few have actually taken any concrete action towards that goal. The analysis of the new Parliament shows that women are represented in relatively higher proportion on the lists of smaller parties (LSV, NS, JS, Coalition of Hungarian parties), while parliamentary clubs of bigger parties will be predominantly male.

The Democratic Party (DS) stands out among the bigger parties with women accounting for 29.2 percent of its MPs. The analysis of party lists leads to a conclusion that the legal quota of 30 percent women is the only motivation for political parties to secure at least minimal participation of women in politics.

CMS believes that it is important to have proper representation of women in the Skupstina in order to be able to represent the specific needs, interests and rights. The previous Skupstina had just 20.4 percent women members.

“A truly democratic society should now allow for the real majority of the population that women, indisputably, are, can be represented as minority in the highest institutions of the state. The Gender Equality Law has not been adopted yet. The Constitution does guarantee equality of men and women and obligates the state to equal opportunities policies, they are rarely implemented,” says the Center of Modern Skills.

From:http://see.oneworldsee.org/article/view/151092/1/