On June 9, the regular elections of the European Parliament /EP/ and the regular early parliamentary elections were held – the sixth in a period of 3 years. The percentage of women in the composition of the last five parliaments varied between slightly below and slightly above 24%, and in the new 50th National Assembly /50 National Assembly/ the percentage significantly increased to 27%. At the same time, Bulgaria will send only 4 women to the European Parliament out of 17 mandates.
In its modern history, the country has never even managed to reach 30% women MPs, a minimum recommended by the UN Economic and Social Council as a target for the long-gone 1995, said the “Ekaterina Karavelova” Foundation, whose main activity for eight years now has been to encourage women to lead the process of transformation in society.
European Parliament
The participation of women in the party lists for the EP was within 30%. None of the parties sending representatives to Brussels had a woman as leader of their list. Out of 17 seats, only 4 are women, such as Eva Maydel from GERB, Elena Yoncheva from MRF, Tsvetelina Penkova from BSP, who swapped the list and was elected thanks to a preferential vote, and Rada Laykova from „Vazrazhdane“.
The 50th National Assembly
Female participation increased from 24% to 27%, the most likely reason for this being the higher percentage of women elected by “Velichie” party. Out of 13 seats in Parliament, there will be 6 women in their parliamentary group, which is 46%. Here is how the participation of women in the 50 National Assembly is distributed in the various parties:
- GERB – 23%;
- MRF – 29%;
- „We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria“ – 30%;
- „Vazrazhdane“ – 23%;
- „BSP for Bulgaria“ – 26%;
- „There is Such a People“ – 18%;
- „Velichie“ – 46%;
Traditionally, Gabrovo, Sofia Region and Yambol do not elect a single woman to Parliament, and this time this is the situation in Haskovo. The largest number of elected women is from Sofia 25 and Dobrich.
The barriers to equal political participation of women and men in Bulgaria are many. It certainly cannot be said that women have no interest in the political process because they represent half, and in some elections – a higher percentage of the electorate.
The lack of more women in elective positions in the candidate lists naturally leads to a low representation of women in Parliament. In addition to the arrangement of lists, traditional gender roles and the inability of women to combine work, care for the home, children and dependent adults, and a political career are a challenge.
Also, the political parties themselves lack recognition of women’s problems and support for their development. There are also systemic factors such as economic inequalities, feminized poverty, discrimination and gender-based violence.
These and other challenges at the individual, party and system level are detailed in the report „Gender Equality in Politics: Challenges and Opportunities in the Bulgarian Context“, which the “Ekaterina Karavelova” Foundation published at the end of 2022.
[…] Survey: The share of women in the 50th National Assembly is only 27% […]