7 | - Número: 003 | 12 de Outubro de 2012

ANEXO B

Speech by Mr. Mendes Bota on the debate of the report Stavrositu (doc 13022) on “Political parties and women’s political representation” Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Strasbourg, 2nd of October 2012

Mr. President, Dear Colleagues, We give for granted to live in countries where voters have a free choice on what everybody considers there are “free and fair” elections.
We give for granted to live in countries without opacity, falsification of electoral protocols, without pressure, violence or intimidation of candidates and voters during an electoral campaign.
Imagine such democratic paradises with equal access to impartial, independent and neutral media, with secrecy on the ballot and transparency on political accountability, where everybody has assured the right to vote, including people with disabilities and illiterature.
Let’s imagine this is happening in all 47 member Estates of the Council of Europe.
Even if this could happen, and unfortunately is not happening, very hardly we could say we live in a full democracy.
Maybe we could describe it as an half-democracy, as the access of women to political representation is far from being fair and balanced.
Parliaments look like mirrors of the political scene on each country. What do we see in these mirrors? We see that women in 35 of the 47 member Estates of the Council of Europe count less than 30% of the parliamentary seats.
Surely, we recognize there is not a single equation and a single solution. There are different paths and speed are different. But we believe, as Mrs. Stavrositu emphasizes in her relevant report, the bottom neck, this glass ceiling, lives in the heart of most of the existing political parties in Europe.
Yes! Quotas might be decisive. But we have to say there are countries without imposed quotas scoring the highest women’s participation, and countries with quotas who did not achieved the objective of greater gender equality in the political spectrum.
Quotas might not be indispensable, or even might not be sufficient in need of other complementary measures.
There are voluntary quotas assumed by political parties, and quotas imposed by law.
We find weak sanctions, such as fines, and radical sanctions, as exclusion from electoral process.
We have weak incentives, as additional subsidies, but let me tell how much I have this conviction that the strongest incentive of all could be additional broadcasting time during electoral campaigns for the parties that achieve the best level of gender balance in their lists of candidates.
But the major problem is inside political parties. A lot of good practices could inspire them to run to the Gender Equality Prize created by this Assembly, starting by changing and their candidate selection bodies, usually controlled by men, tending to choose other men.
Political parties need to attract more women to politics, giving them the opportunity to be protagonists in equal opportunities such as men.
Women can be promoted by political parties, by creating internal women’s structures, developing mentoring and training programs, improving women’s media skills, sharing broadcasting time during campaigns and reconciling political activities with family responsabilities.
Formal commitments by political parties regarding gender equality are important but not enough. Political leaders might play a relevant role on gender mainstreaming their camps.
I do believe talent has no gender, as intelligence has no gender. But equality of opportunities is far from being achieved by political parties. Imagine how much it could be different. Maybe one day, sooner than later, imagination might come true. And half-democracy could become a full democracy.

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