Party criticism: Men are dominate the campaign, women in the shade

Women candidates for deputies in the Kosovo Assembly are not being given sufficient space at election collections, say representatives of organisations dealing with the protection of women's rights.

According to them, even in this ongoing pre-future, as the electoral campaign officially for the October 6th general parliamentary elections begins on September 25th, men are participating in debates both in the media and civil gatherings.

Luljeta Demolli, executive director at the Kosovar Centre for Gender Studies, calls the fact that all political parties, at different citizens' meetings are promising Woman's advancementAnd in reality, it's the opposite is happening.

<x) The Election Frozen It's low. In television debates we see the drastic absence of women politicians, as well as those who analyze party programmes in the campaign. We have leaders who mention women or from time to time talk about women's issues, but they are treated superficially and not in the way the gender equality issue must be addressed”, Demolli said.

According to her, what is most evident in this election parade is also the phenomenon of women gathering together with women and men with men.

On social networks every day, some women have gathered several other women, while some men have assembled other men at gatherings, everything divided. Gender equality is the value of the new state of the Republic of Kosovo”, Demoli said.

According to civil society, even women's participation in election lists is unfair. Political parties in Kosovo have already drafted and submitted candidate lists to the Central Election Commission (KQZ) for the 6 October parliamentary elections, including the legal quota, which envisions that 30 per cent of candidates are women.

Valmir Elezi, spokesman at the Central Election Commission, has confirmed to Radio Free Europe that all political parties have minimally respected the legal basis for gender quotas.

According to him, the total political parties' lists include 1068 certified candidates, and out of that number 343 are women and 725 men.

In the Law for General Elections in the Republic of Kosovo, “is said to be on the list of candidates of each political subject at least thirty percent are males, and at least thirty percent are females; with one gender candidate involved at least once in each group of three candidates, counted by the first candidate on the” list.

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Blerta Aliu from the coalition of non-government organisations “Democracy in Action”, says gender representation is not equal in Kosovo, and this, according to her, is due to the non- harmonisation of laws on the issue.

We don't have 50-by-50 lists of both genders. Women are represented by 30 percent quota. Of the 1068 persons who have been certified as candidates to compete in the October 6th elections, only 32 percent are women. This time again, the Law on Gender Equality has not been observed, but the Law has been respected for general elections that require a 30 - percent quota for women. We consider that it takes a harmonisation of these two laws in favour of the Law for gender equality, so that we can have equal representation on election lists”, Aliu said.

The Law on Gender Equality says that equal gender representation in all legislative, executive, and judicial organs, but other public institutions, is achieved when a minimum representation of 50 percent of each gender, including their governing and decision - making organs, is provided.

The highest position ever held by any woman in Kosovo is that of Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga from 2011 to 2016. /REL/