Several women's groups yesterday grudgingly accepted Monday's passage of a constitutional amendment cutting the size of the legislature in half with "with tears in their eyes," warning that the new system is a threat to women's legislative representation.
"We are very frustrated about the whole situation. We tried talking to the various political parties about the importance of guaranteeing female representation, but in the end no one was interested in sharing power with women," said Sue Huang (黃淑英), a Taiwan Women's Link (TWL) representative.
The reforms institute a single-member district, two-vote system and downsize the legislature from 225 to 113 seats, with 34 of the seats reserved for legislators-at-large and half of these at-large seats reserved for women.
In response, the TWL, the Taipei Association for the Promotion of Women's Rights, the Peng-wan Ru Foundation, the End Child Prostitution Association and the Taiwan 21st Century Women's Association issued a statement Monday voicing their reservations about the system. Although they said its potential to improve the quality of the legislature is desirable, it doesn't provide enough female representation. This is because it increases competition for regional seats so that representatives from disadvantaged groups may be edged out.
Last week the groups called on legislators to resolve the problem by ensuring at least a 25-percent female legislature by adopting an earlier proposal that called for the legislature to be downsized to 150 seats and to increase the number of legislator-at-large seats to 60. In this case, 50 percent female nominations for legislator-at-large seats would have ensured an overall 25-percent-female legislature.
In contrast, the adopted plan only guarantees 15 percent female representation, a far cry from the current 22 percent.
Although the women's groups' first reaction was to petition the legislature for a better offer, Huang said, they decided not to act for fear of halting the reform process.
"All Monday, we struggled on what to support: women's rights or a better legislature. In the end, we decided that a better legislature was more important and not to make more noise, but we are disappoint-ed," Huang said.
In lieu of social action, the groups are urging parties to develop female political talent and to actively encourage women to run for regional and at-large seats.
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