Título
Politics and gender in Guinea-Bissau: candidate selection across political parties
Autor
Vaz, Vanessa Margarida Buté
Resumo
en
Guinea-Bissau is among the countries in the world with the lowest women representation in
Parliament. During the democratic period, which started in 1994, women´s representation in
Parliament ranged from 7 per cent in 1994 to 13.7 per cent in 2019.
Worldwide, the fight for greater rights for women has been a long-time struggle and the
relationship between female representation and democratization process continues to enhance
debates among scholars. In Guinea-Bissau, studies on women´s representation are almost nonexistent.
This study seeks to examine how formal and informal selection processes influenced the
choice of female MP candidates by the three dominant political parties (PAIGC, MADEM and
PRS) for the 2019 elections.
The research follows a mostly qualitative methodological approach, based on the collection
and analysis of documents, as well as on interviews with MPs and MPs candidates, as well as
with party leaders and other political actors.
The analysis shows that the recruitment process was mostly carried out in an informal way.
Despite the existence of formal selection procedures, informal filters were created to influence
the selection process. As a result, none of the three dominant political parties complied with the
36 per cent quota of women´s on the lists, required by the 2018 Parity Law. The main obstacles
for a higher women representation in Parliament are associated with preconceived biases and
social values that decrease the chances for a woman to be voted. Consequently, parties tend to
prefer to choose men over women for their electoral lists.