Prague, Oct 9 (CTK) – Women kept their one-fifth share in the Czech regional assemblies after the October 7-8 regional elections, according to data on the election server of the Czech Statistical Office (CSU).
While in the previous regional polls in 2012, 134 women gained mandates, this year 137 women will enter the assemblies. They will make up 20.3 percent compared with 19.9 percent four years ago.
Preferential votes did not benefit women in these regional elections. If only their position on the lists of candidates had been decisive, 149 women would have been elected, but actually it was only 137, according to an analysis of the Forum 50% NGO striving for an equal representation of men and women in politics.
The NGO says women’s representation did not increase thanks to preferential votes in any region.
The average age of the newly elected regional assembly members is more or less the same as last time – 50.1 years now, while after the previous elections it was 49.9 years.
Two women from the age group 18 to 29 years succeeded in the elections, but no man in this age category gained a mandate.
The highest share of the elected women or 29 percent will be in the assembly of the Karlovy Vary Region, west Bohemia, and the lowest of 13 percent in the Usti Region, north Bohemia.
The biggest group of assembly members are men over 50.
The regional elections were held simultaneously with the first round of the elections to one-third of the Senate, the upper house of parliament.
In the 27 Senate wards contested, 11 women advanced to the second round to be held in a week, on October 14-15. Four of them were defending their senator’s mandate. However, there will be no duel of two women in any ward in the second round.
