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SARAJEVO, March 8 (FENA) - MPs of Our Party (NS) at all levels of government are engaged in amendments to the law on governments, in the context of the minimum representation of women in the executive branch at a rate of 40 percent when appointing ministers as of the next election cycle, it was said today at a press conference in Sarajevo organized by the '50 percent Initiative', which presented previous activities in this field, including various aspects of women's participation in public life and decision-making in accordance with the Law on Gender Equality in BiH.
Mirjana Marinković-Lepić, a Member in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, pointed out that on March 5, the caucus of Our Party-Independent Bloc, submitted a bill on amendments to the Law on the Council of Ministers of BiH into the legislative procedure, and by analogy, the initiatives towards governments at the FBiH and cantonal levels.
"We wanted the Law on Gender Equality to be respected through amendments to these laws and to harmonize these laws with Article 20, which states that state bodies at all levels of government will ensure and promote equal gender representation in management, decision-making and representation process," stressed Marinković-Lepić.
She added that the data on the composition of the executive authorities in BiH show that the presence of women is far below the 40 percent of representation prescribed by the Law on Gender Equality in BiH.
Damir Arnaut, also a Member in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, pointed out the difficulties in achieving the projected representation of women and (non)compliance with existing laws, emphasizing that there are no mechanisms for implementing this obligation or sanctions that are to be imposed in case the law is not respected.
The mentioned proposal, as he explains, envisages that if the mandatary of the Council of Ministers of BiH submits to the House of Representatives a list of ministers that does not reflect 40 percent of the underrepresented sex, then that parliamentary house will not even consider it.
On behalf of the Gender Center at the Government of the Federation of BiH, Lejla Hodović emphasized the importance of the legal standard that should ensure parity between women and men, which is, among other things, defined by the quota for lists of candidates in the BiH Election Law.
According to Hodović, the analyses on why a significant percentage of female candidates do not result in an equal number of elected representatives testify to the prejudices and gender stereotypes present in our society.
(FENA) S. R.
