By : Jerromie S. Walters
It’s becoming apt to understand that the current political sphere of Liberia is speedily suppressing the efforts of women amid their commitment to effectuate their way through the political space.
This is made more visible through the deliberate failure of political parties to adhere to a simple 30 percent women’s involvement on their respective tickets in the pending presidential and legislative elections.
The National Elections Commission’s candidate registration process is expected to end today, and as provided by the Commission’s (NEC) latest report on the candidate registration process, out of the 70 registered candidates of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), there are only 12 female candidates out of said number.
The Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), which interestingly has a female vice presidential candidate (100%), also has zero female senatorial candidates out of 12 (0%) registered male senatorial candidates (100%).
At the level of the representative seats, the party has 11 female representative candidates (16%) to 56 male candidates (84%).
Conspicuously, out of 61 registered candidates, the opposition Unity Party has only 11 female candidates. The party has a disappointing ratio of 10 female representative aspirants (19%) to 42 male representative candidates (81%).
At the level of the senate, the Unity Party has so far registered only 1 senatorial candidate (14%), compared to 6 male senatorial candidates (86%).
However, the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) of Amb. Alexander B. Cummings, which has a female vice presidential candidate, has 59 candidates in total, with 16 females out of said number.
The CPP has about 2 female senatorial candidates (33%), 4 male senatorial candidates (67%), and only 13 female representative candidates (25%), compared to 38 male representative candidates (75%).
Other popular parties, like the All Liberian Party, have so far registered only 1 female representative candidate (3%) to 29 male candidates (97%). This shows that out of 30 candidates, the party only registered one female candidate.
Like the All Liberia Party (ALP), the ALCOP has registered only 1 (4%) female representative candidate to 22 (96%) male candidates. This reveals that out of 23 candidates, the party has only registered one female candidate.
From a general perspective, the commission’s report reveals that there are a total of zero female presidential candidates so far and eight male presidential candidates that are contesting. Also, there are currently 3 female vice presidential candidates from different parties and 4 male Vice presidential candidates.
Additionally, the NEC’s latest report shows that there’s only 1 independent presidential candidate, 1 zero-party female presidential candidate, 1 female independent senatorial candidate, and 21 males. It further discloses that there are five female parties’ senatorial candidates and 55 male candidates. In total, the Commission has recorded 6 female senatorial candidates (7%) and 78 male senatorial candidates (98%).
At the level of the presidency and vice presidency, there are about 3 female vice presidential candidates, five male vice presidential candidates, 1 female presidential candidate, and 8 male presidential candidates.
Moreover, the NEC report shows that there are about 31 independent female representative candidates and 108 independent male representative candidates.
Up to Wednesday, July 12, 2023, the Commission recorded 91 female representative candidates from political parties and 510 male representative candidates from political parties, as well as 122 female representative candidates (16%) and 618 male representative candidates (84%).
Months ago, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was entered into by and between the National Elections Commission of the Republic of Liberia (hereinafter referred to as the NEC and represented by its Chairperson, Madam Davidetta Browne Lansanah) and Registered Political parties operating under the laws of Liberia and represented by their respective Chairmen and Secretaries General, which serves as their commitment to the 30% gender quota.
Under the MOU, the parties agreed that Political Parties, coalitions, and Alliances shall each produce and adopt a Gender Policy reflective of the relevant legal instruments supporting gender balance and increased women’s participation in representative politics toward the 2023 General Elections, as highlighted in consultative engagements amongst the parties to the MOU.
Though the various parties assured their commitment to the MOU, they can never be held accountable if they fail to abide by it.
Arguably, pundits have described it as a mockery of the fight for a just political atmosphere for every gender, especially women, as the existence of the recent MOU might be just like several other Women’s rights protocols Liberia as a country has signed but is still struggling to adhere to.
Though one might describe the MOU as a step ahead, the fact that it has absolutely no legal consequences makes it a toothless vampire.
It would have buttressed the struggle for increased women’s political participation if the president had signed the new elections law, but as it stands, parties cannot be held accountable for failing to concur with the MOU.
Section 4.5 (1c) of the New Elections Law mandates that political parties submit not less than 30% of their candidate lists to the NEC.
The amendments in question sought to make 30% gender representation mandatory. It would have empowered the National Elections Commission (NEC) to fine or delist any political parties that failed to adhere to the gender quotas.
The Gender quota clause, which is a special legislative measure to redress the historical marginalization of women from political life, comes as women struggle to gain equal representation in the legislature.
Currently, there are 11 female lawmakers in the national legislature, out of the 103 lawmakers in both the House of Representatives and Senate.
