Women made a big step forward on the 2005 Local Elections

22.2 percent instead of 8.4 percent of women will work in the municipal councils

In the following four years 84 municipal councils in the country will consist of 22.2 percent of women-councils. A percent which shows that women have achieved a great success on the 2005 Local Elections, especially if it is known that in the previous mandate there were only 8.4 percent councils in the existing 124 municipalities. In the first round the mayor of Oslomej, Sanije Sadiku, is re-elected, and in the second round of the mayor race there were also three women.
Violeta Alarova for the Municipality Centar, Lefkija Gazovska for Krusevo and Suzana Dimovska in Mogila. Alarova and Gazovska succeeded in getting the mandates. Though, apart from the success of the women in most of the municipalities, eight municipalities in Macedonia won’t have a woman within their councils. Those are the municipalities Zelenikovo, Novaci, Cesinovo, Makedonski Brod, Caska, Konce, Mavrovo-Rostuse and Plasnica. In the remaining municipalities the number of women is from 6 to 50 percent, and in the rural areas the presence of women in the councils is bigger and is between 26 and 44 percent, whereas in the urban municipalities that percent is between 6 and 13 percent. From 84 municipalities, 46 women led the candidate lists or presented in percents that number is 10.2 percent. And something else that isn’t less important when we talk about a multiethnic surrounding as Macedonia, women from different nationalities are suggested for bearers of the lists.
These local elections will also be remembered because of the fact that the municipal commission in Plasnica was called off because there weren’t women on the candidate list, with which they violated article 22 of the Law on local elections, which guarantees a presence of at least 30 percent of both sexes on the candidate lists.
It’s a fact that these local elections were extremely important for Macedonia because exactly the elected in this mandate will have to implement the decentralization with which the municipalities will get bigger competence, but also bigger responsibility.

“When people talk about the success of women on the Local Elections 2005, they don’t talk only about the progress or failure, but they point out the processes that are occurring and don’t refer only to women, but to the society in general. The quality of living largely depends on different solutions for the problems, and the women as part of those problems also have solutions to offer. The real place for solving the problems and suggesting solutions are the decision places, both at local and at national level”, says Daniela Dimitrievska, executive manager of the Office for Macedonian woman lobby.

 

Why is it important to have more women in the decision structures at all levels?

“The number of women is important because of many reasons. In order to satisfy the principle of representativity, i.e. everybody to participate in the decisions as much as that person is their user, with bigger participation of women in municipal councils there’s a possibility to give different kinds of solutions according to the life experience and needs, and we know that men and women have both different experiences and different needs. Certainly, the numbers will also be able to create models that will inspire a great number of women to follow the examples of the remaining women who are already in politics”, points out Dimitrievska.

The Macedonian woman lobby, UMWO, ECE, The Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation, Antiko, as well as many other civil associations, contributed a lot for breaking the stereotypes for the role of women in society, especially in the rural areas, which ended with success. Thus, in municipalities where before there weren’t women in the administration, now, among the elected who will decide about the key issues in the municipality, there’s a considerable percent of women.

“I consider that the presence of women in the municipal councils will soften the relations in the councils themselves, and I also consider that women will contribute a lot for the efficiency in the work of the local structures by bringing their enthusiasm”, says Liljana Popovska,  MP and  coordinator of the Macedonian woman lobby, adding that every political party should use the capacity of women within the party at the most.

On the other hand, Gulumsere Kasapi considers that the Local Elections 2005 are substantially important for the Albanian woman not only because they succeeded in making the Albanian woman interested in participation in the decision structures, but also because the Albanian woman showed that she can win as well.

“In this mandate, the municipal councils will have six times more Albanian women than the previous mandate. Especially there’s an increase in the number of women councils in the rural areas, and we are pleased by the fact that the elected women are from all social structures. However, the fact that in certain political parties they didn’t succeed in being on the first place of the candidate lists enraged many women. Nevertheless, the Local Elections 2005 are a great success for the Albanian woman”, points out Gulumsere Kasapi.

Among the 28 percent women-councils elected for the City council of Skopje is also the stage performer Esma Redzepova.

“More and more Roma women are interested in politics and entrance in the institutions of the system where they’ll be able to influence directly on the decisions that are made, and which are immediately important for all of us”, says Redzepova.

 

Was article 22 of the Law on local elections violated on the Local Elections 2005?

It’s a fact that these local elections are a big step forward for the Macedonian women. However, the question that remains open is how much article 22 of the Law on local elections was respected, with which there’s a guaranteed presence of at least 30 percent of both sexes on the candidate lists and why on many candidate lists women weren’t present on the first three places?

“Article 22 wasn’t fully respected”, says Savka Todorovska, president of the Union of Macedonian Women Organizations (UMWO). “The greatest omission was done in the extra explanation of the State election commission to the municipal election commissions about the use of article 22 and the presence of the less present sex, in this case women, in the first and the second half of the candidate lists. More precisely, the greatest omission was done about the number of the less present sex on the list for 15 members of the council, where both parts of the list were divided in an inappropriate percentage. We reacted from the UMWO to the State election commission. We received from SEC an answer that was mathematically correct, but not legally. For UMWO it was illogical the SEC to call off municipal commissions for breaking article 22 of the Law on local elections, and to accept lists with which the Law on local elections is not fully respected. So, someone had to call off the members of the SEC. But, our power as civil sector is only to the level to notice conditions, point out, but we aren’t so powerful to change them as well”, explains Todorovska.

“The place on the candidate list is extremely important. These elections showed that women can win and are capable of justifying the high place on the candidate lists. All women who were on the first three places of the candidate lists were elected for councils”, adds Savka Todorovska.

Marija Kuka