Prague, Sept 22 (CTK) – Thirty percent of the candidates running in the Czech regional elections are women and this has been their highest representation in these elections so far, but they form less than one fourth of the candidates who have a good chance of being elected, the Forum 50% group said yesterday.
Out of the 11,886 candidates running in the elections, 3581 were women (30.1 percent). In the previous regional elections held four years ago, the portion of women was 2.5 percentage points lower.
Women represent 23.4 percent of the top ten candidates on the lists and 21.1 percent of the five leading candidates in the lists.
The Social Democrats (CSSD), whose leadership supports the EU quotas for an equal representation of men and women, have 43 percent of women among their candidates. However, the CSSD has not nominated any woman for a regional governor.
Women form only 25 percent of the candidates of the ANO movement, but in six of the 13 regions ANO nominated them for governors.
The right-wing Civic Democrats (ODS) have the lowest portion of women among candidates, 19.7 percent.
The highest number of women is traditionally running in Liberec Region (33.7 percent) in which six women are election leaders. On the contrary, their lowest number is in Plzen Region (26.7 percent).
In three regions, all in the eastern part of the country, only one election leader is a woman, said Forum 50%, which seeks equal representation of men and women in politics.
The leading candidate is the party’s candidate for the governor of the given region. None of the 13 outgoing regional governors is a woman.
Since 2000 when the first elections to the regional authorities were established, only one woman was a regional governor serving the whole four-year term, Jana Vanhova (Social Democrats, CSSD, 2008-2012) in the Usti Region. Milada Emmerova led the Plzen region in 2008-2010 and Zuzana Moravcikova (both CSSD) led the Central Bohemia Region for six months in 2012.
In the elections to one third of the 81-seat Senate, 43 of the total number of 233 candidates are women (18.5 percent).
Women represent half of the 12 Christian Democrat (KDU-CSL) candidates running for senator, and one third of the candidates fielded by the Communists (KSCM) and the ODS. ANO (12 percent) and the CSSD (8 percent) have the lowest representation of women.
Men only are running for senator in five of the 27 constituencies.
The highest number of women are running for senator in the 11th district of Prague – six of the 13 candidates are female.
The regional and Senate elections will be held on October 7-8.
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