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Gender Quotas Database

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Paraguay

Paraguay

South America

Paraguay has a Bicameral parliament with the use of voluntary party quotas and legislated quotas for the single/lower house and upper house and at the sub-national level. 19 of 80 (24%) seats in the Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies are held by women.

At a glance

Structure of parliament Bicameral

Are there legislated quotas

For the Single / Lower house? Yes
For the Upper house? Yes
For the Sub-national level? Yes

Are there voluntary quotas?

Adopted by political parties? Yes
Is there additional information? Yes

Single / Lower House

Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies

Total seats 80
Total women 19
Percentage of women 24%
Gender Quota target 20%
Election year 2023
Electoral system List PR
Quota type Legislated Candidate Quotas
Election details IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline
Legal source Details
Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas Electoral law

The organic charter or statute of the political party will establish the rules to which its organization and operation must comply. It is the fundamental law of the political party and must contain at least the following issues:
q) adequate mechanisms for the promotion of women to elective positions in a percentage of no less than twenty percent and the appointment of a significant proportion of them to public decision-making positions. (Article 32 - Electoral Law)
Legal sanctions for non-compliance Electoral law

Political parties, movements or alliances that do not comply with these provisions in their internal election nominations will be sanctioned by not registering their lists in the respective electoral courts (Article 32)
Rank order/placement rules Electoral law

In order to guarantee the participation of women in the collegiate bodies to be elected, their internal nomination as candidates must be at the rate of one female candidate for every five places on the lists, so that this group may appear anywhere but ratio of one candidate for every five positions to be elected. Each party, movement or alliance promoting lists is free to set the precedence. (Article 32)
Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? No

The state subsidizes political parties no matter how they are composed.

See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database
Are there provisions for other financial advantages to encourage gender equality in political parties? No See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database
Sources Additional information Contact us

Upper House

Cámara de Senadores / Senate

Total seats 45
Total women 11
Percentage of women 24%
Gender Quota target 20%
Election year 2023
Electoral system List PR
Quota type Legislated Candidate Quotas
Election details IPU Parline
Legal source Details
Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas Electoral law According to Article 32 [r] [1] of the Electoral Code, 1 in every 5 candidates in primary elections for parties and movements should be a woman.
Legal sanctions for non-compliance Electoral law Party lists that do not meet the quota will not be approved by the Electoral Commission (Article 32 [r] [3]).
Rank order/placement rules Electoral law None. The political party or movement is free to set the order of precedence in the list (Article 32 [r] [2]).
Sources Additional information Contact us

Quota at the Sub-National Level

Quota type Legislated Candidate Quotas
Gender Quota target 20%
Legal source Details
Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas Electoral law

The organic charter or statute of the political party will establish the rules to which its organization and operation must comply. It is the fundamental law of the political party and must contain at least the following issues:
q) adequate mechanisms for the promotion of women to elective positions in a percentage of no less than twenty percent and the appointment of a significant proportion of them to public decision-making positions. (Article 32 - Electoral Law)
Legal sanctions for non-compliance Electoral law

Party lists that do not meet the quota will not be approved for the election by the Electoral Commission (Article 32 [r] [3]).
Rank order/placement rules Electoral law

None. The political party or movement is free to set the order of precedence in the list (Article 32 [r] [2]).
Sources Additional information Contact us

Voluntary Political Party Quotas*

Party Official Name Details, Quota provisions
Authentic Radical Liberal Party Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA)

The PLRA statute contemplates a female quota of 50%. The lists for all positions, both national, departmental, local and partisan, will be integrated with the same number (50% women and 50% men), located alternately, alternately and consecutively (one by one), from the first or the first incumbent to the last or the last substitute (decided unanimously by the PLRA party 13 of March 2022).
National Republic Association Asociación Nacional Republicana/Partido Colorado (ANR)

ANR has a 30 percent quota for women on electoral lists (Party statues 2001, Article 72; Pereira & González 2008, p. 4-5).

* Only political parties represented in parliament are included. When a country has legislated quotas in place, only political parties that have voluntary quotas that exceed the percentage/number of the national quota legislation are presented in this table.

Sources Additional information Contact us

Additional information

As part of the Electoral Code reform of 1996, the law providing for a 20 per cent quota for women on candidate lists for primaries of parties and movements was adopted. As the ranking order of the candidates is not regulated by law, and as the 20 per cent quota requirement only applies to candidate lists in parties’ internal elections and not the parties’ lists in the national or sub-national elections, the quota regulation has had a weak impact on the composition of the final lists. 

Paraguay has one of the lowest rates of political representation of women in Latin America. Although the electoral regulations establish a minimum gender quota of 20 percent for candidate tickets, which is low in itself, it is only enforceable in primary elections, not in the final list of candidates registered. (OAS 2023)  

Sources

Legal Sources:

  • Constitution of Paraguay - Link
  • Electoral Law (amended through 2019, 2022) - Link
  • Laws on Political Parties - Link
  • Municipal Law (amended through 2022) - Link

Other Sources:

Additional reading

  • See the latest updates on Paraguay on iKNOW Politics
  • Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean: Paraguay (Official Website)
  • Htun, Mala N. 2002. ‘Mujeres y poder político en Latinoamérica,’ in International IDEA, Mujeres en el Parlamento. Más allá de los números, Stockholm: International IDEA, pp. 19-44.
  • Htun, Mala N. and Jones, M.P. 2002. ‘Engendering the Right to Participate in Decision-Making: Electoral Quotas and Women's Leadership in Latin America.’ Nikki Craske and Maxine Molyneux(ed.) Gender and the Politics of Rights and Democracy in Latin America. New York: Palgrave. pp. 32-56.
  • Peschard, J. 2002. El sistema de cuotas en América Latina. Panorama general, in International IDEA. Mujeres en el Parlamento. Más allá de los números, Stockholm: International IDEA, pp. 173-186.
  • Jimenez Polanco, J. 2001. ‘La représentation politique des femmes en Amérique Latine: une analyse comparée’ (Women's political representation in Latin America: a comparative analysis). Bérengère Marques-Pereira and Patricio Nolasco (ed.) La représentation politique des femmes en Amérique Latine(Women's political representation in Latin America). Brussels: L'Harmattan. pp. 27-81.
  • Women's Leadership Conference of the Americas. 2001. Women and Power in the Americas: A Report Card. Washington: Women's Leadership Conference of the Americas.
  • Htun, Mala N. 1998. Women's Political Participation, Representation and Leadership in Latin America. Issue Brief, Women's Leadership Conference of the Americas.
  • Chamber of Deputies website, http://www.diputados.gov.py/ww5//
  • Senate website, http://www.senado.gov.py/

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