At a glance
Structure of Parliament: Unicameral
Are there legislated quotas...
-
No
for the Single/Lower House?
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No
at the Sub-national level?
Are there voluntary quotas...
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No
adopted by political parties?
Venezuela
(Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela)
In 1997 a 30% quota law was adopted for both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The quota applied only to the 'closed lists' and not to constituency elections. It did not specify where women should be placed on the list. The law only applied to the 1998 election, and women's representation increased from 6 to 12 percent. In 2000 the law was declared unconstitutional, and in the next election women's representation dropped to 9.7%.
In April 2004 the National Elecoral Board (Consejo Nacional Electoral) passed a resolution to increase womens opportunity to actively participate in politics. The electoral gazette (2005) of the Republic of Venezuela recommends the parties to ensure female representation on the electoral lists at all levels. Furthermore, the EMB has the right to ensure that this recommendation is followed by the parties and will publicly publish the list of parties not fulfilling the recommendation.
The Democratic Action Party (Accion Democrática) and the Movement towards Socialism Party (Movimiento al Socialismo) both have a 30 percent quota for women. The parties are not represented in parliament after the 2005 election.