India to reintroduce controversial women's bill

[pampango]

Source: BBC

A landmark bill reserving a third of parliamentary seats for women is due to be reintroduced in India's parliament.

The bill has been stalled for the past 14 years due to opposition from various political parties. Earlier moves to pass it have been unsuccessful. Its opponents in parliament have demanded set quotas for women from Muslim and low-caste communities.

Analysts say the bill is likely to be passed this time round. It has the support of the Congress-led UPA alliance, BJP-led NDA alliance and the Left parties.

The bill, first introduced in parliament in 1996, proposes to reserve 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and all state legislative assemblies. There are 61 women MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha at the moment. The quota bill, if approved, will take their numbers up to 181.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8554895.stm

[comtec]

1. I have mixed feelings to be honest

On the one hand -YAY more women in parliament is never a bad thing overall - but people are people, no matter the gender.

On the other... should parliament be forced to have a particular makeup?

granted 33.3% isn't representative of the population (which would be 50%) but still...

But yeah, it's their country, and if they feel this is the best way to have women represented, than that's the best way to have women represented in parliament.

I keep forgetting that in a parliamentary system, the party chooses who seats AFTER the election - the actual vote is only for the party, even though you vote for someone in that party, that is only considered "advice" and anyone can be seated from that party. So in that light this decision, IF it passes, makes sense, I suppose.

[HeresyLives]

2. ?? Canada has a parliamentary system, and we vote

for the person in our district. It isn't 'advice'...that person gets elected directly.

The party with the most people elected, forms the govt.

It's the same in every parliamentary system I know of.

[comtec]

3. As far as I understand it here (NL) it's strongly advised

but no actual law demands it, it's simply how it's done.
At least that's how the finer details were explained to me.

Still this kind of enforced legal integration is at least possible under parliamentary law, where it'd never fly in the US.

[HeresyLives]

4. It would never fly in the UK or Canada either. LOL

In NL there are so many parties that all govts are coalition ones.

[ensho]

6. gender matters - women and men DIFFER

women are more then half the human population

[ensho]

5. good for them - hope this time it passes - we should have 1/2 women

in the Senate and House.

mandated (womandated) that they should be at least one half women.

there are more women in the world then men. there are more women in the US then men.

men have made a mess of the world.