prijava
SARAJEVO, February 19 (FENA) - The "Strategic Approach to Success of Female Candidates in Election Campaigns" is the title of a brochure presented to the public today, containing practical information in understanding the electoral system, the impact of gender bias and stereotypes of the electorate.
The brochure is the result of the set of findings, according to author Adnan Kadribašić, in a study that covered women's participation in politics.
It is recognized that despite a large number of women in politics who have registered on the candidate lists, few women are receiving support to develop their political skills.
“Political skills are key to getting candidates closer to the electorate. But what we have recognized in this study is that, in addition to this burden and the obligation to acquire certain political skills, the candidates face additional obstacles, such as the gender bias of the electorate,” said Kadribašić.
He believes that this is particularly visible at the local level and in local elections where the electorate favors a male candidate and, therefore, results in the loss of approximately 16 to 30 percent of the seats that would belong to women without these direct votes.
The additional information we have collected confirms that our electorate has its own prejudices and believes that male candidates are better politicians than female candidates,” pointed out Kadribašić, reminding that in BiH women make up more than 50 percent, but the turnout of women in elections is lower.
President of the BiH Central Election Commission Irena Hadžiabdić stated that although women make up 50.11 percent of the electorate in BiH, they vote less than men, meaning that 49.66 percent of women voted in the last 2018 General Elections.
Furthermore, out of a total of 7,497 certified female candidates comprised 41.60 percent or 3,119 of them, but the election results showed that out of a total of 518 seats, only 142 went to women.
A woman has never been elected to the BiH Presidency, in the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, of 42 seats, only seven went to women, while in the FBiH House of Representatives, out of 98 seats, 26 are taken by women. In the entity Republika Srpska, a woman is the president. Of the 83 seats in the RSNA, 15 are taken by women, and in the cantonal assemblies of 196 seats, 93 are held by women.
“The above figures and the overall percentage of 27.4 percent at all levels of government indicate that women are not sufficiently represented in political life of BiH,” concluded Hadžiabdić, emphasizing that she supports all projects that strengthen the participation of women in BiH's public life.
Lejla Ramić Mesihović, Project Manager for the “Women in BiH Elections” project, believes that the presented brochure, which is dedicated to women's leadership, will help female candidates to present themselves to the public in the best possible way, formalize candidacies in their political parties and better understand the nomination process.
“We want to raise awareness of the female candidates, give them information about our electoral system, the challenges of the electoral system and we want to empower them to have better resources, to find them for their campaign, which is not only reduced to money but, for example, use of media space in which there are not many women, only three percent in the election period,” said Ramić Mesihović.
The brochure “A Strategic Approach for Successful Female Candidates in Election Campaigns” was produced within the project “Women in BiH Elections” funded by the Government of Sweden and implemented by UNDP and UN Women BiH, CEC BiH, BiH Parliamentary Assembly, and the FBiH Gender Center.
(FENA) S. R.
