Armenia Women Seek Greater Political Representation
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: October 30, 2006
Reporting
Armenia: Politics Without Women
Armenian women seek deeper involvement in public and political life
By Lena Badeyan in Yerevan (CRS No. 362 19-Oct-06)
Armenia has fewer women
in parliament than any other country in Europe. Currently there are only seven
females in the 131-seat national assembly, accounting for five per cent of its
members. Outside parliament, just 15 of the 926 local government heads at
village and town level are women.
Now moves are afoot to reverse this
situation. A new grouping of organisations called Women Leaders announced last
month that they had submitted a set of proposed amendments to the electoral code
to parliament which would mean a quota of 25 per cent of seats in the
legislature would be set aside for women. Twenty-two parties and around 40
public associations are supporting the initiative.
This is not the first
effort to boost female representation. During the 2003 parliamentary poll, women
were given a five per cent share of the party lists used in the proportional
representation system. However, most were placed near the bottom of the lists,
leaving them virtually no chance of getting elected.
“That decision
brought no qualitative changes to the parliament, as it was not specific,” said
Hermine Naghdalian of the Republican Party. “It did not specify where female
candidates would be placed on the lists – and our men were quick to exploit
that.”
Only half of the parties now in parliament have women on their
lists. Three of the four belong to the ruling coalition – the Republican Party,
Dashnaktsutiun and the United Labour Party. The fourth, Orinats Yerkir (Party of
Law), recently left the governing coalition.
“It’s essential that the
Armenian government assess the situation properly and take the appropriate
action to increase female involvement in the decision-making process,” Dubravka
Simonovic of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women, commented to the ArmInfo news agency.
“For anything to
change in the way parliament works, women’s representation there should be at
least 30 per cent.”
It is uncertain whether the new initiative will get
through, as it is not supported by parliament’s largest faction, the Republican
Party, or by another large group, People’s Deputy. The votes of the two combined
would be sufficient to vote down the motion.
Some argue that setting a
quota is the wrong approach. “I think the process should be a gradual one,”
Arshak Sadoyan of the opposition Justice faction told IWPR. “You can’t change
from the Asian gender system to a modern European one at a
stroke.”
“Specific quotas should not be prescribed by law – it’s an
internal matter,” argued Gurgen Arsenian, leader of the United Labour Party
faction, while pledging that his party list would contain women in it.
Shogher Matevosian, editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Chorord
Ishkhanutiun (Fourth Power), said the idea was misconceived, arguing that
loyalty to the government, not gender, was the crucial factor in Armenian
politics.
“When it comes to the fight for the presidency or any other
high position, what happens is what usually happens with the opposition: if a
woman is on the opposition’s side, she won’t get in, if she sides with the
authorities, she will,” she told IWPR.
Hermine Naghdalian of the
Republican Party said that women were passive in political life in large part
because of the general atmosphere of disillusionment in Armenia. “In many cases,
women do not believe that they can help change anything, or that their struggle
and wishes can produce results,” she said.
Gagik Beglarian, head of
administration of Yerevan’s central district, illustrates a common sense among
male politicians that it is shameful to lose an election to a woman.
“It
will be a disgrace to me if I lose to a woman,” Beglarian said after he’d learnt
that a woman – a member of the Popular Opposition Party Ruzan Khachatrian –
would be facing him in the local government elections last year.
Khachatrian lost and Beglarian scored a convincing victory in the poll.
Khachatrian has never recognised the results, saying that her opponent used
underhand methods to rig the vote – a style of operation which she says
distinguishes male from female politicians.
During the election
campaign, Beglarian presented bunches of flowers to his opponent instead of
engaging in arguments with her.
“Why does a man’s ambition for public
office not surprise anyone, whereas the same claims by a woman come as a
surprise?” asked Khachatrian. “Why is no one surprised if a woman wants to be a
doctor, but astonished if she wants to become a politician? It is an ordinary
profession, an ordinary job. If you have the skill, why should it become the
target of ridicule?”
“Give us clean democratic elections, and if women
don’t get elected, only then can you say women are uncompetitive,” said Nora
Hakobian, chairperson of the Women’s Republican Council. “If women show willing
and men try to help them, the situation in the country will
improve.”
Lena Badeyan is a correspondent for Ayb-Fe news agency in
Yerevan.
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