Albanian women legislators propose gender quota amendment for parliamentary seats

Women lawmakers from Albania’s two major parliamentary parties, the Socialists and Democrats, have proposed an amendment aimed at reforming the calculation of parliamentary mandates. This amendment seeks to uphold gender quotas, marking a significant step forward in gender equality in the country.

Why is this relevant

According to the amendment proposed by the female deputies, which has received support for inclusion in the electoral code revisions, one in three candidates elected from the open list must be a woman.

Context

The proposed changes to the electoral code stipulate that in parliamentary elections, parties will be required to submit two lists of candidates. The first list, which is closed, will include 50% of the candidates for each electoral district and will be ranked according to the party leader’s preferences. The second list, which will be open, will feature 66% of the candidates from the district and will be subject to preferential voting by the electorate.

A similar approach is proposed for the closed list as well. Here, it is stipulated that one in every three names on the candidate list must be a woman. For example, if a party in the Tirana district wins three more mandates than the fixed list and the winners are all of the same gender, the third mandate will be awarded to the less represented gender based on the candidate with the most votes. While this formula constitutes positive discrimination, it is expected to further solidify Albania’s achievements in gender representation.

The proposal has been welcomed by the OSCE presence in Tirana as another remarkable advancement in Albania’s efforts to enhance gender equality in recent years, particularly in the political sphere.