Women in politics
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Thuringia has so far been number one in the national parliaments of Germany: In the small federal state in the east sat the most female parliament in Germany. Out of 91 deputies, 38 were women - 42 percent of parliamentarians. That's a lot in a country where big people's parties like the CDU have only 26 percent of women among their members. For comparison: in the Bundestag, the proportion of women is 31 percent.
After the Thuringia election but that looks different: Of the 90 seats, which will be in the future in the state parliament, according to the preliminary result, only 28 are still occupied by women. That corresponds to 31 percent of the deputies.
The reason: Although the left - which has both places on the electoral list, as well as direct candidates evenly distributed between men and women - has the most votes in the country. But the Greens , who also rely on parity, make only a small fraction. Even the SPD does not have many options for eight seats in parliament - after all, four of their seats go to women.
Hardly any women with direct mandates
The AfD, however, achieved 22 mandates, of which, however, only three go to women. The CDU has indeed quoted their electoral list, as they had already done in the election in Saxony. But the party has lost a lot of votes and won only direct mandates. So only two of the 21 mandates go to women.
After all, in the 44 constituencies only twelve female CDU members had applied for direct mandates. In the past legislature, ten of the 34 CDU members of parliament were female.
In the state elections in Brandenburg and Saxony could be observed similar: Brandenburg had so far to Thuringia, the second most women in the state parliament, with the election, the proportion dropped by eight percentage points: Now it is there just under 32 percent.
Only 113 women took part in the election
At the Thuringian state election last Sunday, 399 people stood for election - only 113 of them were women.
In the next state election, which takes place regularly in five years, the circumstances should inevitably look different: Because then the parity law, which adopted Thuringia this year as the second German state to Brandenburg has taken effect. The law stipulates that the list places of all parties to parliamentary elections must in future be alternately filled with women and men.
However, direct candidates are not affected by this rule. Results such as that of the CDU are thus still possible, as long as the regulation is not extended.
Experts who deal with the issue, as the political scientist Jessica Fortin-Rittberger, emphasize that a parity law is the fastest way to achieve equality in parliaments. But it is important to consider the direct mandates - as it is the case in the French model.
more on the subject
France is one of the countries with the highest female quota in the European Parliament. Of course there are other ways to promote equality in politics. Parties in Sweden have about their own quotas - Sweden is the country with the most women in the government.
