When the tone of equality resounds in the inner circle of democracy, the issue of women's representation is not just a matter of numbers, but it becomes a mirror of the justice and progress of a state. Since the beginning of civilization, women's walk in the corridors of power was limited, but with the evolution of time, today women are leaving their mark on legislative seats around the world. This evolution of the modern democratic structure, crossing the dusty path of history, gives us a new horizon, where women and men take an oath to build the country shoulder to shoulder.
The origin of women's representation in parliament was mainly sprouted through the women's suffrage movement in the early twentieth century. When the social structure changed after the Industrial Revolution, women realized that their absence at the policy-making level was the main reason for their deprivation of rights. In 1906, Finland made history by becoming the first country in the world to grant women not only the right to vote, but also the right to run for parliament. This groundbreaking moment was a loud explosion of centuries of suppressed aspirations, which later spread worldwide.
In the process of evolution, women's representation has today been elevated from merely 'participating in elections' to the level of 'reserved quotas' and 'voluntary party quotas'. When the Nordic countries began to guarantee seats for women under proportional representation systems in the 1970s and 1980s, a new model was born around the world. Today, many countries have introduced quota systems in addition to direct elections to maintain gender balance in the policy-making process.
The system of women's representation in parliament in Rwanda is a unique example for the world, where the constitution reserves at least 30 percent of the seats in the lower house for women. Here, women are elected through a special electoral college in addition to direct voting, which currently has the highest rate of women members in the country's parliament in the world.
There is no legal quota in Sweden, but political parties voluntarily follow the 'zipper system', where one man is placed after another woman on the candidate list.
Bangladesh has a certain number of reserved seats for women in the national parliament. Currently, the constitution reserves 50 seats for women, which are distributed proportionally among parties based on the results of the general elections. This system was introduced in the original 1972 constitution, which has been extended in terms of terms and seats several times.
There is no direct voting in these reserved seats in Bangladesh; rather, members of parliament elected in general elections act as voters. Political parties submit their lists of nominated women candidates and they are elected unopposed in proportion to the number of seats. This process ensures a certain number of seats for women in parliament.
In addition to the direct reserved seats, women in Bangladesh also get the opportunity to vote directly in general elections. The Election Commission and various political parties nominate women candidates in the general elections. As a result, the parliament of Bangladesh is currently composed of 50 reserved and directly elected women members.
In Bangladesh, women's reserved seat members face a kind of psychological and political limitation because they do not directly carry the mandate of the people. Since they are not directly elected, their direct responsibility or accountability to the grassroots level people is weak. In this context, when they speak on any issue in parliament, their voice often does not reflect the strength of the public demand, which is seen in the case of a directly elected representative.
The writer is President of the International Anti-Drug Organization
