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Local elections in France and Turkey: women paving the way

This past weekend, on the 30^th of March, local elections were held in France and in Turkey. Despite some positive progress, the results still show that women remains underrepresented in local decision-making, especially on positions as Mayors.

In France, the results from last weekend’s elections show that there has been an increase of elected women representatives in City councils. However, there has been no increase of the total amount of women as Mayors. In the city of Paris Anne Hidalgo was elected the first women mayor, she won against another woman, UMP candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.

In Nantes, Rennes, Albi and Albertville large cities in France women were elected Mayors for the first time. Also in Lille, Aix-en-Provence, Amiens, Morlaix women was re-elected Mayors.

In May 2013, a new law was introduced in France requiring parties to present electoral lists with every other woman, increasing the chances for women to be elected. This law completes the previous law on quota requiring parties to present lists with 50 per cent of women candidates. Thanks to the new law, women represent 50 per cent on the electoral lists in the cities of more than 1000 inhabitants and they represent 40.3% of elected councilors. However, among the Mayors only 13.8% are women.

The local elections in Turkey resulted in some progress regarding women’s representation in local decision-making. In three metropolitan cities, women were elected Mayors for the first time in history, Fatma Şahin Mayor of the southeastern province of Gaziantep, Gültan Kışanak Mayor of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır and Özlem Çerçioğlu Mayor of the Aegean province of Aydın. 

In March 2012, the FEMM Committee of the European Parliament published a report “Report on a 2020 Perspective for Women in Turkey” on the situation of women in local decision-making.