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Fast Track Strategies for Achiving Women's Representation in Iraq and Afghanistan: Choices and Consequences
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F
AST TRACK
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N
ORRIS
8/27/2006 6:27 PM
9
Statutory gender quotas An alternative strategy uses statutory gender quotas applied by law to all political
parties, specifying that women must constitute a minimal proportional of parliamentary candidates within each party. Quotas represent an instrument that introduces specific formal selection criteria, in the form of minimal or maximal thresholds for a given group, into nomination procedures. They can be used for elected or appointed office in the public sphere or for personnel recruitment in the private sector, such as for trade union office. There is an important distinction drawn between statutory gender quotas introduced by law, and thereby applying to all parties within a country, and voluntary gender quotas implemented by internal regulations and rule books within each party. Quotas can be specified for women and men, or for other relevant selection criteria, such as ethnicity, language, social sector, or religion. Statutory gender quota laws have been applied to elections in Belgium, France, and Italy, to many nations in Latin America (see Table 2).
33
Quotas have also been used for
appointments to public bodies and consultative committees in countries such as Finland and Norway.
34
[Table 2 about here]
Iraq Their use can be exemplified by Iraq, which considered a range of constitutional and
legal options designed to include the representation of women in elected office.
35
Historically
the country proved one of the more egalitarian towards women compared with many Arab states, for example achieving relatively high levels of female education, literacy, and female participation in the workforce during the 1960s and 1970s, as part of the economic development program of the secular Baathist regime.
36
The 1970 Iraqi Constitution formally
guaranteed equal rights to women and in 1986 Iraq became one of the first countries to ratify CEDAW. Employment and labor laws were passed to give maternity benefits, equal pay, and freedom from harassment in the workplace.
37
In practice these laws were often not
enforced but nevertheless the legal climate was considerably more liberal than many others in the region. In 1980 Iraqi women got the right to vote and in the first parliamentary elections that year women won 16 out of 250 seats (6.4%) on the National Council, with this proportion doubling to 13.2% in 1985, before falling to 10.8% in 1990 and 8% in 2003, immediately before the war.
In the post-Saddam era, Iraq developed a new constitution and electoral laws
through a multistage process. To summarize the time-line, following the fall of Saddam Hussein, in May 2003 the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), headed by Ambassador Paul Bremer, was established by the US-led coalition to administer Iraq. In July 2003, the CPA created the Iraqi Governing Council, with twenty-five appointed Iraqi representatives drawn from five ethnic groups, including three women (12%). The Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) was agreed on 8 March 2004 to serve as a provisional constitution. In June 2004, the US-led coalition handed over power to the interim government, thirty ministers (including six women and a newly created post of Minister of Women’s Affairs), with the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. The Iraqi Governing Council was in turn replaced in August 2004 by a larger 100-person appointed national assembly, a body which was subsequently replaced, following the 30 January 2005 elections, by the 275-member transitional National Assembly. The primary responsibility of
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F
AST TRACK
~
N
ORRIS
8/27/2006 6:27 PM
9
Statutory gender quotas
An alternative strategy uses statutory gender quotas applied by law to all political
parties, specifying that women must constitute a minimal proportional of parliamentary
candidates within each party. Quotas represent an instrument that introduces specific formal
selection criteria, in the form of minimal or maximal thresholds for a given group, into
nomination procedures. They can be used for elected or appointed office in the public
sphere or for personnel recruitment in the private sector, such as for trade union office.
There is an important distinction drawn between statutory gender quotas introduced by law,
and thereby applying to all parties within a country, and voluntary gender quotas implemented
by internal regulations and rule books within each party. Quotas can be specified for women
and men, or for other relevant selection criteria, such as ethnicity, language, social sector, or
religion. Statutory gender quota laws have been applied to elections in Belgium, France, and
Italy, to many nations in Latin America (see Table 2).
33
Quotas have also been used for
appointments to public bodies and consultative committees in countries such as Finland and
Norway.
34
[Table 2 about here]
Iraq
Their use can be exemplified by Iraq, which considered a range of constitutional and
legal options designed to include the representation of women in elected office.
35
Historically
the country proved one of the more egalitarian towards women compared with many Arab
states, for example achieving relatively high levels of female education, literacy, and female
participation in the workforce during the 1960s and 1970s, as part of the economic
development program of the secular Baathist regime.
36
The 1970 Iraqi Constitution formally
guaranteed equal rights to women and in 1986 Iraq became one of the first countries to
ratify CEDAW. Employment and labor laws were passed to give maternity benefits, equal
pay, and freedom from harassment in the workplace.
37
In practice these laws were often not
enforced but nevertheless the legal climate was considerably more liberal than many others
in the region. In 1980 Iraqi women got the right to vote and in the first parliamentary
elections that year women won 16 out of 250 seats (6.4%) on the National Council, with this
proportion doubling to 13.2% in 1985, before falling to 10.8% in 1990 and 8% in 2003,
immediately before the war.
In the post-Saddam era, Iraq developed a new constitution and electoral laws
through a multistage process. To summarize the time-line, following the fall of Saddam
Hussein, in May 2003 the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), headed by Ambassador
Paul Bremer, was established by the US-led coalition to administer Iraq. In July 2003, the
CPA created the Iraqi Governing Council, with twenty-five appointed Iraqi representatives
drawn from five ethnic groups, including three women (12%). The Transitional
Administrative Law (TAL) was agreed on 8 March 2004 to serve as a provisional
constitution. In June 2004, the US-led coalition handed over power to the interim
government, thirty ministers (including six women and a newly created post of Minister of
Women’s Affairs), with the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. The Iraqi
Governing Council was in turn replaced in August 2004 by a larger 100-person appointed
national assembly, a body which was subsequently replaced, following the 30 January 2005
elections, by the 275-member transitional National Assembly. The primary responsibility of
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