Women’s groups and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators including Fan Yun (范雲) today called for increased gender representation in politics, proposing that the Local Government Act (地方制度法) be amended to up the quota of women’s seats in local governments from one-fourth to one-third.
The Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee today held a review of amendments to the act.
The groups at a news conference called on the Ministry of the Interior to draft an amendment as soon as possible to expand women’s opportunities to hold office and reduce the urban-rural gender disparity in local politics, working toward the goal of an even male-female split.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Attendees included Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation chairwoman Huang Shu-ling (黃淑玲) and Awakening Foundation secretary-general Chyn Yu-rung (覃玉蓉), as well as DPP representatives including caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷).
Women’s representation in Taiwanese politics has made clear improvements, yet institutionalized gender inequality still remains, particularly in local elections, the groups said.
After the 2022 election, women constituted 39.79 percent of special municipal councilors and 36.02 percent of other county and city councilors, but only 26.15 percent of township representatives, including towns, cities and districts, they said.
The Local Government Act has not been amended since 1999, Fan said.
The law stipulates that when the number of special municipality, county or city government councilors or elected township officials reaches four, one seat shall be reserved for a female member.
If the number exceeds four, one seat out of each additional four shall be reserved for a female member, effectively only guaranteeing between one-in-four and one-in-seven seats remain female and offering no quota for lesser-populated areas with fewer than four seats, Fan said.
In the 2022 election, 22.11 percent of constituencies across Taiwan had no female elected representatives, compared with 46.71 percent among township/city constituencies, highlighting the disparity between urban and rural areas, Fan said.
Many exceptional female politicians have emerged from local elections, demonstrating the importance of equal participation in local politics, she added.
The UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women aims for 50 percent female representation in politics, she said.
The Ministry of the Interior has discussed possible amendments to the act for more than a decade and have now reached a consensus, Fan said.
She urged the ministry to come up with a draft, and for the committee’s chair to continue discussions and invite representatives from women’s groups to attend hearings on the amendments.
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