Women were able to compete on equal terms with men in local elections: head of Kyrgyz CEC

Bishkek, June 15, 2021 . / Kabar / . Women have been able to compete on equal terms with men and received even more votes, Chairwoman of Kyrgyzstan’s Central Elections Committee Nurzhan Shaildabekova told reporters at a ceremony honoring women deputies of local councils.

She added a quota of 30% seats reserved for women in local councils was implemented on a mass scale during local elections. As a result, the number of women deputies increased from 9% to 38% in local councils.

"Of course, not everything went smoothly. In 65 regions we did not have women among the candidates due to different stereotypes and public attitudes towards this. Meanwhile, as a positive thing, I would like to note that in 59 regions number of women exceeded the norm. Women were able to compete on equal terms and get even more votes than men. And as a result, we have many times more women in local councils,” Shaildabekova added.

The head of the CEC noted that now there is a task to make this participation of women positive and effective in the work and to make this trend take root in the society.

"We have to increase the capacity of women in local councils and men as well. There will be continued training for local deputies so that they can effectively address the needs of the local community and do really constructive work," she said.