Doom and Gloom or Positive Signs?
Transcription
Doom and Gloom or Positive Signs?
Doom and Gloom or Positive Signs? A Re-Appraisal of Strategies to Increase Women’s Representation in Pacific Parliaments Jon Fraenkel Australian National University Women in Pacific Parliaments November 2008 Size of Legislature French Polynesia New Caledonia** Niue Guam Cook Islands Fiji* Wallis & Futuna Samoa Kiribati Vanuatu Tonga Marshall Islands Papua New Guinea Bougainville American Samoa Comm. Northern Marianas Nauru Palau FSM Solomon Islands Tuvalu Average Average for IPU states Number of Female Members % 57 54 20 15 24 71 20 49 46 52 33 33 109 (40)*** 20 20 18 16 14 50 15 30 24 4 3 3 8 2 4 3 2 1 1 1 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 52.6 44.4 20.0 20.0 12.5 11.3 10.0 8.2 6.5 3.8 3.0 3.0 0.9 (6.1) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 778 508 89 20 11.4 3.9 * Fiji figure is for pre-2006 coup parliament. ** Figure needs updating from 2006. *** Including the President (41 including the Speaker). Pacific Islands Electoral Systems Acronyms AV – Alternative Vote BV – Block Vote MBC – Modified Borda Count SNTV – Single Non-Transferable Vote TRS – Two Round System LPR – List Proportional Representation (FPP) (BV) (FPP) (FPP/BV) (FPP) (MBC) (AV) (TRS) (FPP) (BV/FPP) (FPP/BV) (SNTV) (FPP) (FPP/BV) (AV) (LPR) (AV) (LPR) (BV) New Caledonia 15 Seats in Congress (Majority Kanak) 32 Seats in Congress (Minority Kanak) 7 Seats in Congress (Overwhelmingly Kanak) New and Caledonia’s Territorial Congress, 2004 Votes Seats in New Caledonia’s Provincial Assemblies & Territorial Congress, 2004 Votes % Congress Seats % Seats Southern Province Front National Avance Rassemblement UMP FCCI Mouvement des Citoyens Calédoniens UNI FLNKS Union Calédonienne Calédonie mon pays L'Avenir Ensemble Union Océanienne MCDCC-UMP Rassemblement Océanien dans la Calédonie FLNKS pour l'Indépendance Patrimoine et l'Environnement avec les Verts 11.2 1.2 31.2 0.8 2.1 4.6 3.4 2.2 33.9 1.4 2 0.8 3.8 1.6 100 4 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 32 12.5 0.0 40.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 46.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 The Law says Party lists need to alternate Men & Women 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Man Woman Man Women Woman Man Woman Man Woman Etc down to 15. Northern Province UNI FLNKS Entente Française du North Union Calédonienne FCCI LKS-KAP Identité Nord Rassemblement UMP L'Avenir Ensemble Calédonie mon pays Mwâdihin MCDCC-MP Loyalty Islands UNI-Iaaï-Dréhu-Toka Nengoné LKS Kap Identité Îles Union Calédonienne Construire Ensemble l'Avenir FCCI-FULK Rassemblement UMP UC Renouveau - Unir et Construire MCDDC-UMP Grand Total 37.5 2.7 27.1 5.7 1.7 11.4 8.5 3.4 1.9 100 7 0 5 0 0 2 1 0 0 15 46.7 0.0 33.3 0.0 0.0 13.3 6.7 0.0 0.0 100.0 16.3 15.7 22.5 7.1 8.9 17.2 11.2 1.2 100 1 1 2 0 1 1 1 0 7 54 14.3 14.3 28.6 0.0 14.3 14.3 14.3 0.0 100.0 Man? Man? Man? Man? Man? The Mystery of why the number of women in parliament fell after the introduction of the law on Parity in Wallis & Futuna (20 seats) Lists Parties with More than 1 Seat 1992 29 2 1997 34 1 (Introduction of parity law) 2002 32 1 2007 26 0 Number of Women elected 1* 2 1 2 But these at top of lists. Political Parties across the Pacific A. Party systems - Fiji, New Caledonia, French Polynesia B. Quasi-Party systems - Samoa, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands? Kiribati? PNG? Solomon Islands? Cook Islands? C. Party-less Systems - Nauru, Tuvalu, FSM, Palau, Wallis & Futuna, Tonga, Niue. What can be done in non-party or quasi-party settings? 1. Appointment/nomination 2. Presidential systems – where executive not selected from legislature 3. Best loser system – multi-member constituencies, only part of the country. 4. Reserved seats – as in Bougainville. How Bougainville’s system works? Figure 1; Composition of the House of Representatives after the 2005 Elections to the Autonomous Government of Bougainville 41 Members President 3 Seats for women 33 directly elected members 1 Vote 1 Vote 1 Vote Voters (4 Votes) 1 Vote 3 Seats Speaker ex-combatants 1 Vote Some Concluding Questions? • Why is the share of women in the top positions of the civil service often so much higher than that in the legislature? - Can we establish what the position is across the Pacific? Ie CEOs/secretaries/permanent secretaries, plus e.g. (in some countries) Clerk, Chief Secretary to Cabinet, Sec to GG, etc. [not SOEs] • Are strategies for advancing the position of women more likely to be effective at the local government level rather than the national level? • Should we focus solely on parliament or also on cabinet? - see Pollard/ - See FSM (also New Caledonia/French Polynesia) - Presidential systems? Provisional Table …….. Share of women in Top Ranks of the Civil Service, November 2008 Women in Total TopShare of Top-ranked ranked Women in Positions Positions Legislature in Civil in civil Service Service % % Solomon Islands 6 27 22.2 0 Kiribati 6 14 42.9 6.5 Samoa 3 12 25.0 8.2 Tuvalu 3 20 15.0 0