Hermine Naghdalyan. “The proportion of women should be increased with every election”

I think there are quite a number of people in the party who really believe that we need to progress in women’s participation and we cannot achieve it if we the provisions of the new Electoral Code somehow make women’s access to parliament difficult. This was said by Hermine Naghdalyan –  NA Vice Speaker, RPA Women’s Council, in conversation with  WomeNet.am, commenting on the possibility of supporting women’s quota in the Electoral Code.

“Let’s recall that according to the results of the parliamentary elections in 2012 there were nine female MP of the Republican Party, and today, after Arpine Hovhannisyan’s appointment as Minister of Justice, the number is 8. In other words, the Republican Party remained true to to its commitment to expand women’s presence in politics in the election process and I am sure that it will be continued. It will be expressed during the discussions to finalize the draft Electoral Code, in the local elections taking place this year and next year we will see parliamentary elections, the commitment of the Republican Party is genuine and we really think that women’s participation in politics at various levels is very important.

With regard to the provisions of the new Electoral Code, we really did not like them somehow more significantly to hamper women’s participation in political processes. By RPA Women’s Council initiative, we will meet and discuss that question, with a number of NGOs dealing with women’s issues because we consider that the proportion of women stipulated in the Electoral Code of the parties’ lists during elections must be raised, thus creating a fair and equal opportunities in political decision-making process for attracting women. Therefore, we support the proposal to fix the proportion 30/70 lists of men and women, as well as that the next female candidate should come to the Parliament instead of the list of women who applied for withdrawal “said Hermine Naghdalyan.

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