Political hope for Liberia women? Parliament’s bill favour

Liberia’s election commission published Thursday 20 July 2023 a preliminary list of candidates for October’s legislative election, with women accounting for only 15 per cent of nominees despite efforts for a 30 per cent quota.

Only 159 of the 1,030 people nominated to the West African country’s Senate and House of Representatives are women, the National Elections Commission (NEC) announced.

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PARLIAMENT’S BILL ON GENDER

Lawmakers last year passed a bill requiring political parties to include no more than 70 per cent and no less than 30 per cent of either gender on their candidates’ lists, but President George Weah did not sign it into law.

In May, 25 of 46 registered political parties signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing that no less than 30 per cent of the candidates they put forward would be women.

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“Women will suffer again, and our voices will hardly be heard”, said Nora Neufville, a project officer with the Women NGO Secretariat of Liberia, an umbrella group. “We have gone backwards.”

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WORRIES ON WOMEN’S POLITICAL REPRESENTATION IN LIBERIA

In the current legislature, 11 of 103 members — or 10.7 per cent — are women. But campaigners worry women’s representation could drop even further in the next five-year legislature, depending on how many of those nominated are elected.

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“The lack of women’s political representation and leadership has an adverse impact on the development of our country, putting women’s issues second,” said Facia Harris, a lawyer and prominent women’s rights activist. Legislative and presidential elections are scheduled for October 10.

In the presidential race, Weah will be seeking a second term. Twenty presidential candidates have so far been nominated, only one a woman.
Liberia’s previous president was Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She was in office from 2006 to 2018.