The impact of the women's quota system in activating the role of women in the elections for the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. A comparative analytical study

Abstract

This study deals with the application of the women's quota system in the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and raises two important questions, the first: Does the application of the women's quota system in the Kurdistan Regional Parliament elections contribute to increasing the effectiveness of women and contribute to the preparation of political and legislative staff who can enter the parliament without the need to implement a Quota system for the future? The second: Is the women's quota system a temporary measure that can be dispensed with in the future? The study found that the approval of the Iraqi constitution in 2005 for the quota system for women in Article (49) has a prominent role in encouraging the Kurdistan Region to adopt it at a rate of 30%. The implementation contributed to increasing the effectiveness of women, as the number of women reached about 10 members out of a total 34 members in Parliament Kurdistan Region in the fourth session in 2013 without implementing the quota system. Meanwhile, the number reached 12 of the same total in the elections for the fifth session in 2018. This indicates that it is a temporary system that must be abolished once women are politically empowered.