"During Nomination, No More Than 60% of a Specific Gender Allowed"... Recommendation to Amend Election Law

Recommendation for 'Party Charter and Regulations Amendments' to Each Political Party

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The National Human Rights Commission emphasized that the proportion of a specific gender among members of the National Assembly and local councilors should not be skewed to more than 60%, and stressed the need to amend related laws such as the Political Parties Act and the Public Official Election Act, as well as party constitutions and regulations.

On the 12th, the Human Rights Commission recommended to the Speaker of the National Assembly that the candidate nomination quota system be made mandatory not only for proportional representation seats but also for constituency seats in National Assembly and local council elections, ensuring that a specific gender does not exceed 60% of the total.

The Commission stated that after analyzing numerous studies by prominent political scientists, it confirmed that appropriate gender balance in the political sphere means a male-to-female ratio within 40-60%. It explained that if a specific gender exceeds 60%, it becomes structurally difficult for the minority gender to have representation.

It also recommended that party leaders revise their party constitutions and regulations accordingly.

The current Public Official Election Act mandates that more than 50% of proportional representation National Assembly candidates be women, but among parties in the National Assembly, only the Justice Party has a mandatory 30% minimum female quota for constituency candidate nominations.

Accordingly, the Human Rights Commission pointed out that the proportion of female lawmakers in the current 21st National Assembly is 19%, ranking 121st out of 190 countries affiliated with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, falling short of the global average female lawmaker ratio of 25%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.