On how the quota worked during elections in Gyumri and Vanadzor

Let us remind that on October 2, in two major towns of the republic – Gyumri and Vanadzor, elections to local self-governance bodies were for the first time held based on a proportional electoral system. And though in case of Gyumri, it is possible to speak only about preliminary results today and in Vanadzor the opposition is still continuing to boycott the sessions of the councilors, both towns have recorded significant increase in women’s representation among councilors: from 5% to 24%.  If the previous elections resulted in having one woman among 21 councilors in both Gyumri and Vanadzor, this time eight of the thirty-three elected councilors are women. 

This became possible thanks to the gender quota defined by the new Electoral Code, according to which, starting from the first place of the electoral list of each of the nominated parties, the number of representatives of each sex should not exceed 75% in any integer group of four (1-4, 1-8, 1-12 and so on till the end of the list).

Having observed how the quota worked in the lists of the nominated parties in Gyumri and Vanadzor, we should note that on average women made up one third of the party lists.

Eleven parties participated in the elections of the Gyumri councilors and overall 419 candidates were included in their electoral lists. One hundred twenty-eight or 30.5% of the candidates were women. The minimal representation of women in the lists of the nominated eleven parties stands at 24% (the Balasanyan Alliance and Prosperous Armenia), and the maximum – 44% (the Gyumrian Spirit, Businessman).  

The other parties had a 30-33% representation of women in their lists. Moreover, eight out of the eleven parties included the women candidates in the first three places of their lists, and the remaining four –starting from the fourth place.

Only one of the lists was headed by a woman: Yepraksia Mekhakyan (Armenian National Congress).  Seven of the parties included three women in the first ten places in their lists.

Eight parties participated in the elections of the Vanadzor councilors. The total number of 326 candidates were represented in their electoral lists. Ninety-three or 29% of the candidates were women. Women’s representation fluctuated from 25% in the case of the governing Republican Party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia to 33% in the lists of the parties Consolidation and the Armenian Renaissance. The other parties included 27-32% of women in their lists. Moreover, half of the parties nominated in Vanadzor included women candidates in the first three places of their lists, and the other half –starting from the fourth place. Only one of the lists was headed by a woman: Ajtsemnik Ohanyan from the Prosperous Armenia Party.

So, in the two cases the parties were able to provide for 30/70 proportion of the sexes in their lists, which, as it is well known, is postponed by the new Electoral Code till year 2021. In fact, the past elections have demonstrated that this postponement is not justified, and more so in case of parliamentary elections.

This time the law was in favor of women

During the formation of factions after the elections in Vanadzor and Gyumri, at least two provisions of the new Electoral Code worked. They regulate the maintenance of the gender quota during distribution of mandates and as a result of their application, even the practice of candidacy withdrawals worked in favor of women. 

Thus, as a result of the elections, five parties are represented among the Vanadzor councilors: Bright Armenia received 10 mandates, the Prosperous Armenia Party -3 mandates, the Armenian Renaissance – 5 mandates, the Republican Party of Armenia – 13 mandates, and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation -2 mandates. 

Out of the 13 members of the Republican Party of Armenia faction three are women (13%):  Gayane Qalantaryan, director of the Lori Regional Neurological Dispensary State CJSC, Marine Hovhanessyan, organizer of the Lori Territorial Organization of the Republican Party of Armenia and  young Sokhak Melkonyan.  It is noteworthy that the latter occupied the 24^th place in the Republican Party of Armenia list and she was preceded by four women candidates, however, the party made a decision in her favor. Here, the provision of the Electoral Code guaranteeing the maintenance of the quota after elections, in case of refusals to accept the mandates, was applied. 

Specifically, when a candidacy withdrawal results in the decrease in the number of representatives of any sex of the given faction and hence, that number will stand at less than 20%, the mandate is given to the next candidate of the less-represented sex in that party electoral list. In essence, this provision ensured that women who had withdrawn their candidacies would be replaced by women candidates, and not men, as it was the case in the past. 

Out of the ten members of the Bright Armenia faction, two are women (20%): Karine Ghukasyan and Anahit Karapetyan. Let us note that at the faction’s session the latter, Anahit Karapetyan, was elected secretary of the faction.

Out of five members of the Armenian Renaissance faction, only one is a woman (20%).  The mandate fell into Mary Yeghiazaryan’s lot, a social worker of the program Support to Pregnant Women. 

Out of the three members of the Prosperous Armenia faction, only one is a woman (33%) – Aitsemnik Ohanyan, who headed the party’s electoral list. 

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation faction will have only two members among the councilors, one of whom is a woman (50%). By the party’s decision, the mandate was given to Armenuhi Kyureghyan, Associate Professor at Vanadzor State University. Initially, Armine Kyureghyan was the third in the party’s list, however, the RA new Electoral Code required that the party ensure the participation of representatives of the two sexes in its faction. 

Specifically, Point 6 of Article 114 of the new Electoral Code states, “That candidate is selected from an electoral list whose ordinal number in the electoral list is small or equal to the number of mandates due to the given electoral list. If, as a result of this, all the mandates of the party (party alliance) fall into the lot of representatives of the same sex, the mandate of the candidate elected last in accordance with the order of the list is given to the candidate of the non-represented sex of the list with the least number, if there is such a candidate.”

As it is known, the municipal council in Gyumri is half-formed, the opposition has not accepted the mandates protesting against the decision of the District Electoral Commission, according to which, 17 mandates were given to the Balasanyan Alliance, eight mandates to the Prosperous Armenia Party, four mandates to the Armenian Renaissance Party and four more to the GALA Party. 

At present the picture in terms of women’s representation is clear only in case of the Balasanyan Alliance faction, which includes today four women: Lolya Khachatryan of the Republican Party of Armenia, non-partisan Lusine Sanoyan and Gayane Sargsyan, and Karine Tataryan, member of Armenia’s Christian-Democratic Party Union.

The remaining parties will include a total of four women, according to preliminary results. The Prosperous Armenia Party will have two women among the councilors: Susanna Astoyan and Armenuhi Mkhitaryan, members of the Prosperous Armenia Party. The Armenian Renaissance will have only one woman among the councilors: Hasmik Yeghiazaryan, Rector of the Gyumri Branch of the European Regional Educational Academy.  The GALA Party too will have only one woman councilor – Kristine Mkrtchyan.