Parliamentary elections in Romania: Only a quarter of the candidates are women

Only slightly over a quarter (27.7%) of all candidates registered in the race for the parliamentary elections to be organized in Romania on December 11 are women, according to a statement from Coalition for Gender Equality, citing data from the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC). Among the parties with highest chances to win seats in the Parliament, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which is the biggest political party in Romania, has the highest share of female candidates – 28.5%, followed by the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) with a share of 27.7%, the National Democratic Party (PNL) with 25.3%, and Save Romanian Union (USR) with 25.3%. By constituencies, the lowest representation of women is found in Prahova – 19.1%, Hunedoara – 20.3%, and Cluj – 21.8%. On the other hand, the highest shares are registered in Giurgiu – 39.1%, Bucharest – 34.1%, and Ilfov – 33.3%. The Coalition for Gender Equality requested an answer from BEC on why there are no female candidates on the lists in some electoral constituencies. In the official address, BEC argued that the constituency electoral offices have the responsibility to verify if the legal conditions are met, not BEC. Under the law, both sexes must be represented in the lists of candidates for the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, with only one exception, namely the lists that include only one name. Data centralized by the European Parliament shows that, with a share of women of only 11.5% in the Parliament, Romania ranks second to last in the EU. Only Hungary has a lower share than Romania, namely 10%, according to the Coalition for Gender Equality. The EU28 average is 28%, the countries with the highest shares being Sweden – 45%, Finland – 42%, and Belgium – 41%. Gender Equality Coalition consists of ten NGOs active in the field of women's rights and equal opportunities. The electoral campaign for the December 11 parliamentary elections kicked off on Friday, November 11, with some 6,500 candidates at the starting line. Parliamentary elections: Romanians living abroad can find polling stations on Google Maps Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com