Sep 18, 2023, 11:38 PM IST

Countries with reservation for women in parliament

DNA WEB DESK

The Women's Reservation Bill was demanded to be passed by Parliament in both Houses. The bill ensures that women will have a 33% quota in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures. Here's the list of countries where seats are reserved for women in parliament.

In Bangladesh, 50 of the 350 seats in the parliament are set aside for women. In Jordan, the House of Representatives has 130 elected members, with 15 seats set aside for women. The Senate has 65 members, all of whom are appointed personally by the King. Representatives of both houses hold four-year terms in office.

In Pakistan, a set number of parliamentary seats—60 for women and 10 for minorities—are designated aside for these groups. Since 2008, a minimum of 50% of the party-nominated candidates for the 34 party-list proportionally allocated seats in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan must be women.

In Eritrea, 10 of the 105 seats in the parliament are set aside for women. The 26-member Senate of the Rwandan Parliament must have at least 30% elected women. 24 seats in the 80-member Chamber of Deputies are set aside for women, who are chosen by a joint assembly of local government representatives. Three additional seats are set aside for members who are under the age of 18 and for people with disabilities.

In Tanzania, according to Article 66.1(b) of the Constitution, at least 20% of seats must be reserved for women. 393 out of 113 (or 28%) are currently set aside. 

According to Argentine legislation, there must be 50% female candidates for Congress.

Every one of the 39 districts in Uganda is eligible to run for a reserved woman's parliamentary seat.

20 of the 100 seats in Parliament were historically allocated for the white minority in Zimbabwe, until these seats were eliminated by a constitutional amendment in 1987. In the House of Assembly, 60 of the 270 seats are currently reserved for women.

Photo: Twitter/ Zee Media Bureau/ Wikki Commons