Quota system to ensure better women representation – IDEA
FIJI could look at adopting a quota system to ensure better women representation in Parliament, says the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
IDEA said Fiji’s failure to make major progress in improving women’s representation in Parliament over the years had reignited calls for the introduction of some form of temporary special measure (TSM) to allow more women to enter the House.
IDEA said there was a 10.9 per cent women representation in Fiji’s Parliament after the 2022 general election compared to 19.6 per cent in the 2018 polls and 16 per cent in the 2014 elections.
Fiji comprises only one nationwide constituency and uses an Open List Proportional Representation (OLPR) system.
“It may be harder under OLPR to increase the representation of disadvantaged groups such as women and minorities through mechanisms such as representation quotas,” said Alan Wall, a senior global election expert.
“But that is not impossible, pointing to Kosovo, where representative quotas do operate in an OLPR system. “
IDEA said in the Melanesian region, Fiji still had the highest percentage of women in parliament, “but is nowhere near achieving the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goal 5 which states “Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life”.
“Melanesia is one of the lowest performing regions when it comes to women’s representation in national parliaments. In an attempt to remedy the low proportion of women, Samoa and New Caledonia have already embraced TSM while in Papua New Guinea the topic has been discussed since 2009.”
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