Women's groups called for concrete rules on adequate female representation in the soon-to-be downsized Legislative Yuan yesterday, suggesting that parties use legislator-at-large nominations to guarantee at least a 25 percent female representation in the legislature.
Based on the cross-party consensus achieved in May this year, the number of seats in the legislature is to be reduced from 225 to 113 by 2008, with 34 of those seats on reserve for legislators at large. At the time, no agreement was made how the seats were to be divided, although it was agreed that each sex would be guaranteed at least 30 percent representation in the downsized legislature, meaning that women will occupy at least 34 seats in after the downsizing takes place. No details were included in the May plan as to how the 30 percent rule would be enforced.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, representatives from groups such as the Taiwan's Women's Link (TWL) and the Pen Wan-ru Foundation called for legislators in Monday's extraordinary legislative session discussing the matter to consider using legislator-at-large nominations to guarantee 25 percent female representation, meaning that 28 of the 34 proposed legislators-at-large would be reserved for women.
The groups said that the revised legislature -- which will use single-member districts with a two-vote system -- is disadvantageous to women's rights.
They said that the increased competition between candidates will go far to reduce corruption and idleness in the legislature.
They warned, however, that in countries with similar political institutions, that female representation usually becomes the victim of legislative downsizing.
"The truth remains that society considers politics a male area of expertise when you have only one representative per district. Realistically, a male candidate will typically triumph over a female candidate for a regional legislative seat," Tsai Wan-fen (
Maintaining a 25 to 30 percent level of female representation from regional elections only is almost impossible, Tsai said.
As a result, the groups are focussing on the legislator-at-large seats, she explained.
The legislator-at-large seats should be reserved for women and disadvantaged groups -- such as the disabled community -- which might not receive representation through the election process, Tsai said.
As opposed to the 30 percent based on the agreement, Tsai added, her group is willing to settle for at least 25 percent female representation.
The Legislative Yuan currently has 22 percent female representation. However, there are only 6 legislators-at-large out of a total of 41 positions.
Since the consensus, various parties have come up with different methods of securing female representation, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporting a plan for a 50-50 gender ratio for legislator-at-large seats.
However, the groups pointed out, the DPP plan at present only guarantees 15 percent female representation.
"The math does not add up," said Liu Yu-shiu (
The groups also spoke out about this year's legislative elections, calling on all parties to follow the DPP's example of reserving one-third of their legislator-at-large nominations for women.
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