When talking about women in politics and in representative bodies, they are an underrepresented gender, even though they make up slightly more than 50 percent of the population, said Nada Drobnjak, president of the Parliamentary Committee for Gender Equality.
However, when you look at the composition of the parliament, local parliaments and the Government, Drobnjak assesses that it can be seen that women in that proportion do not occupy positions that "certainly belong to them according to their competences".
Although there are more and more women on the lists of councilors and deputies, it is unrealistic to fulfill the expectation of the United Nations that in the political life of Montenegro and the parliament, 2020 percent of women will be fulfilled by 40.
In the latest report of the European Commission, it is recalled that out of 81 parliamentary seats in the Parliament of Montenegro, 19 are occupied by women (23.5 percent). It is also reminded that women are insufficiently represented in high positions in the parliament and that out of 14 permanent parliamentary committees, three working bodies are headed by women. In the Government, four ministerial positions are held by women.
The EC report states that the political participation of women is still low even at the local level. Of the 24 municipalities, two have female presidents. Women, as stated in the report, make up only 26 percent of councilors in municipalities.
Drobnjak (DPS) assessed that there are enough women who are interested in politics, which, she says, is also shown during the session of the Women's Parliament, when the parliamentary hall is full of women who reflect politically, send political messages and have answers to questions that are important for the development of society.
She pointed out that the centuries-old unequal distribution of power, not only in Montenegro but also in the world, led to the fact that there are more men in decision-making positions and that changes were brought about by the introduction of quotas, whether within parties or through electoral laws.
She reminded that quotas were introduced for the first time in Montenegro in 2011, but they realized that they were ineffective, because they did not position women on the lists until the end. Then, through amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament, they came to the point that at this moment 30 percent of the names on the list must be women and that there must be one woman among the four seats and that a woman replaces a woman.
"Such a quota gave a result. For the first time in the history of Montenegrin parliamentarianism, the Assembly has more than 20 percent women, 19 out of 81 deputies. We will agree that 23 percent is talking about underrepresentation and that it is necessary to fix that mechanism," said Drobnjak.
She said that she was pleased with the agreement organized by the Women's Political Network with the presidents of political parties to move towards changes in the electoral legislation, where it will be required that 40 percent of the lists be women and that a woman's name be found among every three names.
"A two-thirds majority is required to amend that law. The working group for electoral legislation is working on that request, it has been taken into account...".
She said that when the quota reaches 50 percent, then we can talk about the equality of women in political life.
Director of the Center for Women's Rights, Maja Raičević, reminds that in the event that the parties do not comply with the legal obligation to have a woman in the group of four candidates, the State Election Commission (SEC) is obliged to declare their electoral list invalid or send it back for amendment.
"Thanks to legal quotas, which were adopted after our initiative, which was supported by female parliamentarians, primarily Snezana Jonica and three political parties (not the ruling one), the number of women in parliament increased by five percent compared to the previous convocation. However, that is not enough, the equal ratio is 50:50, with the fact that the number does not mean much if there is no real sensibility for the issues of women's rights", Raičević assessed.
She pointed out that the legal framework should be improved in the part related to the financing of political parties and the Law on Political Parties, which should include additional affirmative measures for women, and, in particular, the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament, which should foresee a quota for women of at least 40 percent, with a mandatory reservation of one seat for a woman in a group of three seats on the electoral list.
"A necessary model that helps women to be in greater numbers is the quota model. None of the women who occupy the position wants to be a quota woman and is there just because she is a woman. The emphasis is on the fact that women have competence, knowledge and that they want to make decisions about their lives and the life of the country and the city they live in," said Nada Drobnjak.
"Positive examples should be promoted, media support and financing of campaigns led by women should be provided, mutual support of female politicians and women's NGOs should be strengthened in terms of topics important to women in Montenegro," Raičević said.
The civil activist pointed out that the very detailed approach of this year's report of the European Commission to topics concerning women's rights, which shows that it is one of the key conditions for the accession of Montenegro to the European Union: "This also means that the previous passive role of the Government in this areas".
The spokesperson of Democratic Montenegro, Nikola Rovčanin, assessed that the equal participation of women and men in political life is one of the basic principles of democratic management and modern societies.
"Objectively, Montenegro is still in a low position in this segment. The reason for this, to a lesser extent, is the political tradition, on the one hand, which is scarce in terms of women's involvement, and on the other hand - reduced motivation, bearing in mind the entire political environment," said Rovčanin.
Spain has the most women deputies, as well as the president of the parliament
Spain is the European country that has the most female deputies in the national parliament, and the president of the parliament is a woman. Of the 350 parliamentary seats, 164 are held by women, which means that 46,85 percent of the Spanish parliament is women. Thus, the Spanish parliament overtook the Swedish and Finnish ones, according to data from the European Institute for Gender Equality.
In Sweden, there are 162 women in the parliament with 349 seats, which represents 46,4 percent, and Finland has a similar percentage.
The National Assembly of Serbia has 93 women deputies (37.2 percent), while there are 157 deputies (62.8 percent).
In the Croatian Parliament, out of 151 seats, women cover 32 (21 percent) and men 119 (79 percent) seats.
DPS also had a female leader, Vuksanović Stanković was the first presidential candidate
In Montenegro, for now, only the Democratic Serbian Party (DSS) has a leader, Dragica Perović. That picture will be changed today, because with today's election of Draginja Stanković Vuksanović as president of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Montenegro will get another female leader. Last year, she became the first female candidate in the elections for the President of Montenegro.
Until now, the leaders of political parties in Montenegro have been Milica Pejanović Đurišić, who briefly led the party in 1997, and the former president of the Assembly, Vesna Perović, who in 2004 became the president of the Liberal Alliance, which then went out of business.
After the poor election result and the withdrawal of Darko Pajović from the head of Positive Montenegro, he was succeeded by Azra Jasavić in 2017.
Until recently, the leader of the Croatian Civic Initiative was Marija Vučinović...
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