Additional information about gender quotas

The first quota legislation was adopted in 1999 and required that political party lists of candidates for the proportional representation election contain no less than 5 per cent female candidates. In the 2003 elections, seven women were elected (5.3 per cent), but one was designated as a cabinet minister, leaving six women in parliament (3.8 per cent). For the 2007 parliamentary elections, the required gender quota provision was increased to 15 per cent but none of the five women who contested seats in the first-past-the-post system were elected, while 12 women were elected under the proportional representation system. The current quota system was introduced in 2011 and was applied to the 2012 parliamentary elections, introducing the improved ranking order requirement and thus helping to position women candidates evenly across candidate lists.

The statutory number decreased from 131 to 101 in accordance with the Constitutional amendments were adopted in a referendum in December 2015 and a new electoral code came into force in July 2016. Up to four minority representatives may be elected.

The gender quota plans to be changed in 2021 to guarantee that, at least,  1 in 3 (33%) are women.