WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN THE

2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTIONS

AND THE 50-50 CAMPAIGN

Emma Kaliya NGOGCN Chairperson and

Ngeyi Ruth Kanyongolo, PhD, UN Women /NGOGCN Consultant

MESN 2014 Elections Review Conference

Lilongwe, 25/06/14

Introduction

Women and political participation Gender and electoral processes

Demarcation Voter registration Intra party nominations and primaries Electoral campaign Polling and results Post election Institutional and legal framework

The 50:50 Campaign: aimed at increasing therepresentation of women in parliament and in councils(MPs and Councilors). This is in line with provisions ofthe Malawi Constitution, SADC Protocol on Genderand Development which sets the target of 50% andother intern. instruments

Women and political participation

Women

Participation as

Voters

Officials

Candidates

Important aspects of participation

Access

Influence

Benefit

Gender and electoral process: Voter

registration trends

Fluctuating but increasing number of overall potential

voters registering

Number of women registered voters higher than men

A higher number of women actually voting compared

to men

But: to what extent does this translate to the benefit

of women?

Intra-party nominations

Lack of democracy within parties

Low number of women in leadership party structures and general political representation

No / Unclear / unenforced rules on nominations for political contest although varying with political party

Centralised and personalised nomination processes common

Primary elections not favoring women Majority of women lose primary elections

Decisions made at high levels where women are represented in low numbers

Rigging, intimidation and violence common

Financial burden

Gender and electoral process:

Campaign

Unfair playing field Violence and abuse

Challenge – enforcement of regulations / Codes of conduct

Cost of campaign Financial cost

justifiable costs

Unjustifiable costs - handouts

Social cost

Skills development

Women in political parties vs women as independent candidates

Gender and electoral process:

Polling and results Voter turn out Fluctuating 70% in 2014; 2004 59% ; 93% in

1999 and 80% in 1994 voter patterns based on individual and less on

party lines shown by decreasing number of safe seats ??

Monitoring Generally not gender based Lack of individual capacity by women

candidates to monitor electoral processes Tabulation and announcement One major tally centre Parallel centers

Confusion / chaos Impact on women as voters and as candidates

Overview of the 2014 Results

MPs

As officially released by MEC, For MPs, only 32 women have made it out of 261 women who contested representing 12%

In 2004 of 1268 registered candidates, 154 were women(12%) and 14% of these succeeded

Furthermore, in terms of the 193 Parliamentary seats, representation of women is now at 16.5%. This means that there is a drop by 5.5% from the previous 22% in 2009; but higher than the 14.5% in 2004 ; 8% in 1999 and 4% in 1994,

Councilors

For Councilors only 52 women have made it, out of 419 women who contested representing 12% also

In terms of number of wards, this means representation of women is at 11%. This denotes that a move of 2% has been achieved from the 9% in 2000

Overall

Success rate between male and female candidates relatively comparable though 13.5 % for men and 11% for women

2009 Results 2014 Results

Political Party Successful female

candidates by party

% Political Party Successful female

candidates by

party

%

DPP 31 DPP 8

Independents 7 Independents 11

MCP 3 MCP 6

UDF 1 UDF 2

PP 5

Total 42 + 1 by-

election= 43

22% Total

DROP of

5.5%

32 16.5

%

Comparison between 2009 and 2014 female

representation in Parliament by affiliation:

Gender and electoral process: Post

election Common disputes

Voter certificate snatching

Allegations of election rigging

Violence and intimidation

Dispute resolution Limited intervention in violence and abuse cases involving women

Role of judiciary has improved with time

Limited ADR and informal mechanisms which are more affordable such as the Multi party Liaison Committee

Election post mortem Very limited

Male dominated

Inadequate involvement of women candidates

Legal and institutional framework Institutional framework

Laws Constitution

Section 13 Section 24

Other legislation Local Government Elections Act 1996 Political Parties (Registration and Regulation) Act 1993 Presidential and Parliamentary elections Act Gender Equality Act

Policies National Gender Policy (NGP) 2008 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) SADC Gender and Development Declaration 1997 African Union Protocol on Gender and Development 2006

Political party constitutions and manifestos 2004,/ 2009 None with quotas or affirmative action to increase women

representation No rules and regulation on fundraising and registration of membership 2014 – Improved – increasing recognition of gender equality and role of

women in parties

Summary of activities under the 50 -50

These include:

Gendering MEC electoral documents eg Civic and Voter Education Manual and the Media Code of conduct

Media orientation and establishment of a media taskforce to help in positive coverage of women candidates

Media-Production and airing of radio messages, (till end of campaign period),

Profiling of women candidates-radio and print media

Community awareness and mobilisation meetings (District and grassroots level)

Lobbying meetings with community leaders (District and grassroots level -- targeting Traditional leaders, Faith leaders, district political party structures, communities)

Training of women candidates-regional meetings

Summary of activities done …

Production and distribution of T-Shirts to candidates (100 T-Shirts for every MP Candidate)

Provision of cash support to women candidates (MK 200,000 for every MP candidate and MK 90, 430.62 for every councilor candidate)

Monitoring of primaries,

Monitoring of campaign,

Monitoring of elections i.e. polling day, Observation Mission ( Mini-situation room)

Continuous engagement with various stakeholders

Key Lessons learnt

Coordination was critical and helpful in building

synergies and collaboration among implementers.

Duplication was minimized and activities were jointly

done with improved sharing of information and

pooling together of resources

Capacity building of women candidates was critical

and helped in the quality participation of women

candidates

There were few null and void votes and this assures

that people knew how to vote – Improved CVE ?

Elections to be treated as a process not an event

Key Challenges

Limited resources – This led to other activities beingleft out e.g. support towards monitors for femalecandidates. Also, the campaign / support was limitede.g. only 100 T-Shirts for each woman candidate MPwhen in 2009 they received 500 each

Mainstreaming of gender in electoral process, Civilsociety and donor funding

Hostile political environment-stereotypes /prejudicestill present among communities/electorate- Male /women candidates intimidating and insulting womencandidates

Electoral system: a challenge to achieve equalpolitical participation

Key Challenges

Expectations of women candidates-some are

unrealistic- Some felt that the campaign had to do

everything for them such as pay or their nomination

fees, pay for their fuel, be given money they could

use during the campaign

Limited time to undertake activities – In general

activities started late. To some extent delayed

provision of funds contributed to this.

Increased number of women candidates (MPs plus

Councilors) - first tripartite elections

Key recommendations

50:50 Campaign activities should be continuous.

This would allow for the internalization of the

campaign concept and goal among Malawians and

thereby foster change of attitude; encourage the

women to still take part though many have lost, etc .

This would also ensure easy retention of the

incumbent elected women, as they would be

targeted with various interventions

Engagement with political parties should be stepped

up to influence considerable women’s participation

at party level e.g. Party Manifesto/ Constitutional

change that would clearly define women’s

participation

Priority post mortem areas of focus

What worked / What failed – Programme evaluation

Feedback from female candidates and other stakeholders

The stereotypical / prejudicial “Amayi” syndrome /

Factor?

Conceptual critique of the programme and beyond :

women and equal political participation

Investigate voter patterns and attitudes towards

gender / women candidates

Stakeholder analysis – actors’ interests, incentives

and power relations

Review of the regulatory framework

Conclusion

Continued concerted efforts to increase women’s participation in the electoral process needed through: Electoral gendered law reform for both intra political party

to national electoral processes

Improved gendered administration and management of electoral processes

Improved gendered access to information

NGO and civil society support

Increased financial and technical support

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION

END!!!!!