“Equal Representation: Men and Women Nominated for Election” By Reuters

By Riham Alkousaa

In a historic move, the regional parliament of Brandenburg, a state in Germany, voted on Thursday to mandate political parties to nominate an equal number of men and women for elections.

This progressive legislation, proposed by the Green party and supported by coalition partners the Social Democrats and the Left party, establishes Brandenburg as the first German region to implement such a gender equality rule. The new law will take effect in the latter half of 2020.

Currently, women occupy just over a third of the seats in the Brandenburg parliament, a disparity often attributed to the insufficient number of women candidates fielded by political parties.

Despite having a female Chancellor, Angela Merkel, for the past 13 years, women remain underrepresented in both politics and business in Germany. The proportion of women in the federal parliament decreased from 36.5 percent in 2013 to 30.8 percent in 2017.

Although Merkel is often regarded as one of the world’s most influential women, she has not explicitly campaigned as a feminist. She stated that achieving gender parity "just seems logical," emphasizing that it is not a topic she feels needs constant discussion.

The conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) opposed the bill.

In contrast, Norway has long been at the forefront of gender balance initiatives, having introduced measures for gender quotas in politics decades ago. In 1983, the Norwegian Labour Party established a 40 percent quota for women candidates, which later influenced other political parties and municipalities. Additionally, in 2008, Oslo implemented similar regulations for the boards of publicly listed companies.

Feminist activists expressed their hope that Brandenburg’s decision will inspire other states and the federal parliament to follow suit.