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Zimbabwe's Elections 2013 - Index of Articles
One step forward – one step back? Gender quotas and the 2013
Harmonised polls in Zimbabwe
Election
Resource Centre
October 07, 2013
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Introduction
Women’s
groups and activists campaigned for and celebrated the introduction
of a series of gender quotas in Zimbabwe’s new constitution
particularly in anticipation
of the July 31 polls. The hope was that the quotas would lead
to an increased representation of women in parliament and by extension
into other political decision making positions. However, soon after
the election, women’s groups pronounced themselves disappointed
at the showing of women in the July 31 poll even though women’s
representation in the legislature had effectively doubled. The new
cabinet announced
by the President Mugabe on 10 September shows a lower level of representation
for women in comparison to the previous cabinet. This begs the question:
Have the quotas failed?
This paper is
an analysis of the quota system applied in Zimbabwe. The paper examines
its proposed and actual impact. It examines the notion of quotas
in general and looks at the purposes and the intents of the quotas
which were applied and measures them to see how they compare with
the implementation of quotas elsewhere. The current and future implications
for the political representation of women in Zimbabwe is analysed
and recommendations are made for the way forward.
Limited
women’s participation in the public sphere
Elections are
the cornerstone of representative democracy. In a representative
democracy, the majority of interests are represented in political
decision making in an equitable manner. Thus elections will allow
people to elect representatives that reflect their ideals and defend
their interests. However, since gaining formal political rights
through the right to vote at the beginning of the 20th century,
women have failed to fully break through to the next level, by gaining
seats at the political decision making table especially in parliament
and in the executive. The countries which are regarded as world
leaders in democracy where women first got the vote such as the
United States, the United Kingdom and France have not yet reached
gender parity in their own parliaments. Women make up on average
only 20, 9% per cent of parliaments worldwide.
The reasons
for women’s low representation include culture and tradition
which do not allow women to enter politics either because they are
perceived as being incapable of political leadership and more suited
to the domestic or private sphere. Also political campaigning requires
time and money. In many instances women’s lower economic status
may militate against women’s full participation in campaigning
as will their time commitments within the realms of their “defined”
gender roles in the domestic sphere. The political environment,
attitude of political parties, biases of electorate, family expectations,
and openness of political leaders plays a big role in hampering,
or aiding women’s crusade for political participation.
Often the greatest
biases against women are those held by voters and not by parties.
Research has shown that women’s political representation improves
the lives of women because it creates situations where laws are
promulgated that promote the interests of women. Many political
ideologies also recognise that the empowerment of women is directly
linked to the improvement of the general well-being of men, women
and children across the board and therefore the increase representation
of women should be encouraged as much as possible.
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