Election Observation, Training & Gender
OSCE/ODIHR Long Term Observer (LTO) Mina Rolovic-Jocic, Territorial Election Commission (TEC) #8, Malatia-Sebastia, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia for EurasiaNet 2007
Again as part of my work documenting the parliamentary election for EurasiaNet, I attended two trainings of Territorial Election Commission in Yerevan organized by IFES as part of the U.S. Government’s technical assistance to Armenia for the 12 May vote. Members of Precinct Election Commissions (PECs) will also be trained under the program.
Under this project, IFES and the CEC have trained 366 members of all 41 Territorial Election Commissions. Beginning in late April, over 17,000 members of all 1,923 Precinct Election Commissions will also be trained. The computers that we are presenting today will be used by the CEC to support communications with TEC and election results processing and help minimize the time between when the polling stations close and results are announced.
At TEC#8 in the Malatia-Sebastia district of Yerevan is was interesting to run into two OSCE/ODIHR Long Term Observers (LTOs), Jörgen Backlund from Sweden and Mina Rolovic-Jocic from Serbia, who I accompanied to another TEC in the Achapniak district. Of note, however, was interest from one TEC member in the opinion of OSCE/ODIHR on the election to date.
Of course, no such details can be given apart from that already provided in the interim reports publicly available on the OSCE/ODIHR web site. The LTOs had a hard copy of the second report so far which they provided. Of all that was mentioned in the report, however, the TEC member took great interest and exception to mention of the greater inclusion of women in this election.
WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN THE ELECTORAL CONTEST
In fulfilling the amended provision in the Election Code relating to women’s representation in a party/bloc proportional list,1 some of the contestants have significantly exceeded the requirement for 15 per cent representation of women in their list and the allocation of at least every tenth position to a woman. Of the four parties with the largest proportional lists (exceeding 90 candidates, the number of proportional contest parliamentary seats), ARF Dashnaktsutiun has 25.6 per cent women (highest position No.4) and Orinats Yerkir 23.3 per cent (highest position No.3), Prosperous Armenia has 16 per cent (highest position No.3) and the Republican Party has 15.1 per cent (highest position No.7).2 More than half of the registered parties and bloc have their highest-placed woman candidate within the top five positions on their list; four have their first woman candidate at position No.10.
In the majoritarian contest five out of the 132 candidates are women, competing in three constituencies.
Of the seven incumbent female deputies in the National Assembly, five are seeking re-election on their
respective parties’ list.
The male member of TEC#8 couldn’t understand why there was such an emphasis on the participation of women in elections, and not least because this was Armenia. Women, he said, had the traditional role of staying at home to raise and look after children, and if men were better in politics than the “fairer sex,” why should there be such an interest in changing that situation from outside? I captured the scene of that question in the photograph above.
However, what was most interesting about this guy’s statement was that many people disagree. Although Armenia is a largely patriarchal and family-centric society, Lise Grande, the former head of the United Nations in Armenia, told me in an interview that the current situation is pretty much a post-independence phenomenon.
We’re not making any more progress on this issue than we were five years ago but one of the points that is quite noticeable about the collapse of the Soviet Union is that you had the “evacuation” of women from the public sphere. This is not so true in international organizations, the media and NGOs, however, and while women could not hold their former positions in government they certainly found a home in these institutions. In a sense, we’ve become a bastion for highly qualified women who are unable to secure positions elsewhere.
Patriarchy is a pretty slippery thing although I wouldn’t call myself a feminist. All of the countries of the South Caucasus have patriarchal structures which pre-existed communism when many male-centric practices were reversed in the public sphere although I don’t think that you can claim this to be the case in the family. Regardless, when communism collapsed and these countries moved into the period of transition, patriarchal practices in the public sphere began to reassert themselves.
Anyway, as we’re now onto the issue of gender and politics, it’s probably worth pointing you all to an Armenia Now special edition on the same subject published ahead of the 12 May parliamentary election and commissioned by the British Embassy, IREX and USAID. The special edition is also available in Armenian as a PDF here.
Territorial Election Commission (TEC) #8 Training, Malatia-Sebastia, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia for EurasiaNet 2007
Territorial Election Commission (TEC) #5 Training, Achapniak, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia for EurasiaNet 2007
Armenia Now also has an article on observation of the 12 May parliamentary election here.
Comment by Onnik — April 30, 2007 @ 7:15 pm
Hi Onnik,
No need to publish this.
Can you please cover the Ayl@ntrank/Impeachment movement? I read that the number of people attending their meetings are becoming bigger.
Regards,
Haik
Comment by Haik — April 30, 2007 @ 8:11 pm
Too late. Anyway, re. Aylentrank / Impeachment, I have covered them before and will try to make it for their next rally which I assume will also be on Friday as they usually are. Re. numbers, if you mean those which A1 Plus are reporting, i.e. 8-10,000, I’m told this is not the case.
The last time I attended one of their rallies which was 2 weeks ago there was less than 1,000. Asking people I’m told that once again A1 Plus are inflating the numbers, but will check on Friday unless something else of urgency comes up.
However, now that Impeachment, Republic and New Times are apparently working together I’ll try to also get pics of Aram Karapetyan’s next rally which I think should happen sooner.
Comment by Onnik — April 30, 2007 @ 8:39 pm
Hovik, I’m covering Prosperous Armenia more than other parties, I think, so it’s time to spend more time on the rest. However, point taken about the Republican party. However, I’ve had one meeting with their Press Officer and one of his assistants has promised to ring me countless times to inform me of their meetings i.e. where and when, but she never does. However, it was one of the things I need to do this week. That is, hassle them some more, but I have to say that they’re really not being helpful.
Comment by Onnik — April 30, 2007 @ 8:41 pm
About women in public sphere. It’s not as simple as just numbers. For instance, they forced Iraqi current parliament to have some high percentage of women to show “democraticness” of the new regime. It’s a travesty, especially on the background of increasing Islamic fundamentalism in Iraq.
So, only an idiot can say that the bigger percentage of women in this or that party, somehow the more inclusive or representative or whatever the party is. Total crap! The QUALITY of women’s participation is what matters, not the scores of women sitting in the party (or the parliament, for that matter) and carrying out the same “domestic” role as they would do in the family, taking cue from the party leaders and parroting the party line.
What use was the “women’s fraction” in the LTP parliament, Shamiram it was called or whatever. Who remembers them now or what good they did?
One shoudn’t be a PhD to understand that Quality takes total precedence over Quantity…
Comment by Artashes — May 1, 2007 @ 8:00 am
It’s called positive discrimination and is usually introduced when it comes to groups such as women and ethnic minorities as a safeguard to allowing a situation that is otherwise abnormal. For example, in areas of high minority population you would expect to find employees from those groups in a certain number of positions within companies and so on, but in some places where racism is high, you won’t.
Probably the same is true in Armenia. Without enforcing female participation in party politics, the general nature of society here would hardly help even the brightest of female political stars rise up. Sure, quality over quantity, but first of all I’d suggest you take a look at the makeup of parliament and ask yourself what we have at the moment.
Anyway, no form of discrimination is good, but consider lesser positive discrimination in order to represent the balance of gender in society against the greater negative discrimination of patriarchal Armenian / Caucasus macho crap, and I its up to Armenia to choose the model of development that it deems necessary.
Anyway, key to any of this, of course, is democratic elections. A woman MP elected in dodgy ways is as illegitimate as a male MP elected in the same way. Still, if Armenian men are going to do all they can to prevent women from emerging from their stereotypical role what other option is there? If Armenians can’t sort out their own society then perhaps legislation and the constitution is the only way.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t want anyone else to experience another Margaret Thatcher, although I suppose Britain did at least vote her into power.
Comment by Onnik — May 1, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
Maybe, in some small degree you are right about the positive effect of quotas and set percentages for women. That is, if there is some legally binding quota for women, then the brightest, politically astute women will have a “light at the end of tunnel” and start their political activities at a younger age, find and recruit other like-minded women, mature in politics and eventually become REAL players and not the pieces of nice furniture sitting in the parliament. At least, let’s hope so.
And don’t tell me that the “free-market” policies of Thatcher had anything to do with her being a woman…….. that was an unexpected - coming from you - piece of “patriarchal Armenian / Caucasus macho crap”.
Comment by Artashes — May 3, 2007 @ 5:30 am