2nd Roundtable on
Political Party Funding and Women’s Participation in Political Life
Tbilisi, 12-13 March 2013
DAY 2
ROUNDTABLE CONCLUSIONS1
ON WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL LIFE
Women’s participation in political life is a basic human right and gender equality in elected office is
the basis of democracy. Low representation of women in parliament affects its representativeness
and undermines the quality, inclusiveness, and effectiveness of the democratic debate and policy
development. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR),
the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), and the Netherlands Institute for
Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) convened a roundtable to discuss women’s political participation in
the aftermath of Georgia’s parliamentary elections in October 2012, held in Tbilisi on 13 March
2013. Opened by Ms. Eka Beselia, Chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Georgian
Parliament, the event gathered about 60 representatives from Georgian parliament, government
agencies, political parties, civil society and international organizations.
Roundtable participants discussed women’s participation in Georgia’s parliamentary elections in
October 2012, identifying challenges, lessons learned as well as measures to increase women’s
representation in Georgian legislatures in the future. The following issues were discussed
extensively: 1) the level of women’s representation in Georgian politics; 2) the impact of the
Georgian legal framework on women’s political participation; 3) the role of political parties in
promoting women within their structures and within the political system more broadly; 4) the need
for public awareness on the importance of gender equality in elected office.
The roundtable participants developed the following conclusions with the objective to advance
women’s political participation in Georgia:
1) Women’s representation in Georgian politics
Women’s representation in Georgian politics is low and should be significantly improved, as to
comply with international norms and standards on gender equality.
Women make up 12 per cent of the Georgian Parliament after the last elections in October 2012,
which marks an increase compared to the previous parliament, but also emphasizes the need for
further action to achieve a more gender-balanced representation. Women’s representation on the
local level in Georgia is even smaller. In the 57 OSCE participating States, women’s representation
1
These conclusions and recommendations have no official status and were not developed through consensus. Their
inclusion in this report does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the organizers, including the OSCE/ODIHR,
the US Government, USAID, IFES, or NIMD.
in parliaments stands at an average of 23,7%; some States have around 40 to 50 per cent women in
their parliaments, some as low as 8 or 9 per cent.2 Altogether, these figures fall short of reaching the
target of 30 per cent of women in positions at decision-making levels by 1995 endorsed by the UN
Economic and Social Council3, and the Council of Europe target of at least 40% women in all
governmental and elected bodies.4
2) Legal framework
The legal framework of Georgia should be further amended to promote women’s political
participation and to ensure equal opportunities for fair political competition between men and
women political candidates.
Different electoral systems can offer different avenues for women to participate in politics, and
proportional representation systems seem to give women the best chances for accessing elected
office. Whatever the type of electoral system, it should certainly ensure equal opportunities for fair
political competition between political parties, but also between men and women candidates.
Political party regulation should encourage political parties in Georgia to comply with international
and national gender equality standards. The electoral code, laws on political parties, party finance or
state resources can provide incentives and can encourage or even ensure that political parties
promote a certain number of men and women as their political candidates. The 2012 amendments to
the election code, providing financial incentives to promote greater gender balance on candidate
lists, are considered a welcome, yet insufficient, step forward. Political parties are entitled to a 10
per cent higher state subsidy when they include 2 members of the under-represented gender in each
10 positions on their list. However, this incentive did not prove too effective in the 2012
parliamentary elections, as majority of contestants did not submit such gender-balanced lists. In
turn, this measure could be made more effective by increasing the financial incentive for the
political parties and possibly increasing the required percentage of the under-represented gender on
party lists.
Some participants also emphasized the need for gender-sensitive replacements in legislatures.
Further recognizing that women candidates often have fewer resources available for election
candidacy and campaigning than their male competitors, the roundtable participants recommended
that the Election Code be amended in Article 116, para. 7, as to decrease the 5000 GEL deposit
required for the registration of independent candidates in majoritarian election districts.
Roundtable participants observed that temporary special measures such as gender quotas may be a
necessary amendment to the current electoral legislation in Georgia, as countries which have
introduced legal gender quotas have double the progress in getting women elected than the
countries without the quotas.5 In the OSCE Ministerial Council Decision No. 7/09 on Women’s
Participation in Political and Public Life, the participating States are called on to “consider possible
2
Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in national parliaments, 01 February 2013, http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 04 – 15 September 1995, para 182,
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/pdf/BDPfA%20E.pdf
4
Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1489 (2006) on mechanisms to ensure women’s participation
in decision making, 17 March 2006, para 6.1,
http://www.assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta06/ERES1489.htm
5
Gender Equality in Elected Office: A Six-Step Action Plan, Pippa Norris and Mona Lena Krook, p. 29-30,
http://www.osce.org/odihr/78432
3
legislative measures, which would facilitate a more balanced participation of women and men in
political and public life and especially in decision-making.”6
3) The role of political parties
As gatekeepers of democracy, political parties should enhance their internal democracy,
transparency, accountability, and legitimacy, and should seriously consider seeking appropriate
measures to promote women in their structures and in political and public office in Georgia.
Political parties are supposed to be the “gatekeepers” of democracy and they have a special role to
represent citizen’s interests, namely the interests of both men and women. Political parties often
secure access to public funds and resources, access to taxpayers’ money, in order to play this role.
Therefore, citizens and tax payers have a stake in knowing how political parties function internally,
and whether they respect democratic principles.
Political parties should recognize their role and responsibility to promote gender equality in their
structures and in elected office. Political parties should enhance their transparency, accountability,
and legitimacy, and should seriously consider seeking appropriate measures to promote women in
their structures and in political and public office.
Internal party regulation should ensure that women are able to participate fully in political parties.
To ensure women’s full and equal access to party structures and resources, special measures should
be taken, such as the adoption of voluntary party quotas, requirements for gender-balance on
candidate selection boards, the introduction of gender-neutral selection criteria, dedicated party
resources for women candidates, or specialized training programmes.
Voluntary quotas that are not legally mandated but included in party constitutions have proven
effective in ensuring greater political participation and representation of women and should be
considered by the political parties in Georgia.
Internal party management policies, procedures and decisions regarding resource allocation can
have a strong impact on levels of women’s participation as party decision-makers and candidates
for public office. These party policies should be further explored and discrepancies in allocation of
party resources to women and men addressed.
The creation of specific women’s groups within political parties can be used as a tool to promote
greater gender equality. Such groups can work to ensure women’s political participation, by
providing women with an opportunity to discuss issues of common concern, as well as providing a
forum for capacity-building activities. The risk that these groups can work against the interest of
women, by marginalizing them within the political party, should be prevented.
Political parties should certainly assess the skills, capacities, and merit of their political candidates,
but this assessment should by no means turn into a screening or elimination process of women only.
The discussion of capacity in politics must scrutinize both, women and men politicians, on an equal
footing.
6
OSCE Ministerial Council Decision 7/09 on Women’s Participation in Political and Public Life, 02 December 2009,
para 2, http://www.osce.org/mc/40710
4) Public awareness
All political actors, the media, civil society and international organizations in Georgia must play an
active role in raising awareness on the importance of gender equality in elected office.
Civil society and political activists should receive continued support in their efforts to promote
women’s political participation in Georgia. Their efforts to monitor the last parliamentary elections,
to encourage political parties to promote women within their structures, to equip women candidates
with the necessary skills for political office, and to educate media on gender-sensitive reporting are
commendable and should receive continued financial support.
An open dialogue between all political actors, the media, civil society and international
organizations in Georgia should be continued, as to identify adequate strategies and next steps for
promoting women’s political participation, particularly in light of the upcoming 2014 local
elections.