Human rights organisations are calling for the cancellation of the amendment of the Law on the Election of the Parliament passed by the Parliament of Mongolia on 26 December 2007. The amendment violates women’s right to equally participate in legislative decision making.
(Bangkok) Centre for Human Rights and Development and its two regional partners, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development and Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, are deeply concerned about Mongolia’s removal of quota for women in the Parliamentary elections.
In a statement released on 31 January, the non-governmental organisations urged the Mongolia’s Parliament to respect its duty before the international community by ensuring that women have equal opportunity in legislative decision making processes.
Their response came in the wake of Mongolia’s removal of Article 28.2 of the Law on Election State Great Khural (Parliament of Mongolia) in December last year. It states that a “minimum 30 percent of candidates for parliamentary elections from each political party should be women”.
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Human rights activists urge the Parliament of Mongolia to cancel the law about no quota for women candidates in the parliamentarian election
We, the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), together with its regional partners in Asia – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), and The Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) – strongly express our concern about the erasure of women’s quota in the parliamentarian election in Mongolia.
On 26 December 2007, the Mongolian Parliament removed Article 28.2 of the Law on Election of the State Great Khural (Parliament of Mongolia), which states that “minimum 30 percent of candidates for parliamentary elections from each political party should be women”.
We would like to remind the Parliament that Mongolia has been a State Party to the 1979 Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women since July 20, 1981. Therefore, it has legally bound itself to the principle of non-discrimination and gender equality.
We consider the removal of quota for women candidates in the parliamentarian election incompliant with Article 7 of the covenant. Involvement of women in decision making within the Parliament of Mongolia has been insufficient. The women’s quota in elections was one of the significant ways to guarantee women’s participation in state policy formulation and decision making process at all levels and to promote and protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of vulnerable groups such as women and children.
The Article 7 requires the State parties to ensure women’s right to be elected to public office and to hold other government posts. These obligations can be realised by including women on the lists of government candidates, affirmative action and quotas, increasing promotion rates for women and developing a state policy to attract larger numbers of women into meaningful political leadership roles.
We would also like to note that the Mongolian Women NGOs Coalition and female members of the current Parliament consider the erasure of women’s quota as a violation of the Constitution and state policy to ensure gender equality.
The quota was included in Mongolia’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2005, which requires the State to take step-by-step measures including the increase of women's participation in decision-making levels through quota system in order to enhance gender equality in Mongolia.
While we welcome the President of Mongolia’s aspiration to ensure gender equality, and his support to Mongolian women’s rights struggle, we express our deep regret at the Parliament’s rejection of the Presidential veto. The erasure of women's quota in Parliament may lead to negation of past efforts and successes of women in Mongolia in pursuing equal rights and opportunities in political processes.
We call for the cancellation of the Amendment of the Law on the Election of the Parliament and urge the Parliament to clarify its recent decision including whether it complies with the Constitution of Mongolia and its duty to international human rights treaties to ensure equal participation of women in political life.
Sincerely,
Urantsooj Gombosuren
Chairperson
Human Rights and Development
Anselmo Lee
Executive Director
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Virada Somswasdi
Convenor
Women in Political Participation and Processes Task Force, Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD)
