By 2020, political parties in the eastern state of Brandenburg will be required to offer equal numbers of male and female candidates for elections. The law is the first of its kind in Germany.
Lawmakers in the eastern German state of Brandenburg passed a law on Thursday that seeks to boost the number of women in politics.
The so-called “parity law” mandates that political parties in the state must offer as many female as male candidates for elections, starting in the summer of 2020. Parties will also no longer be allowed to select direct candidates for specific constituencies.
The election law revision, which was proposed by the Green party, will not impact Brandenburg’s upcoming state parliamentary elections, which are due to take place on September 1 this year.
It’s the first time that a gender parity election law has been passed in Germany, although with possible court challenges on the horizon, its future is uncertain.
Tackling under-representation
The ultimate goal of the new law is to eventually have equal numbers of male and female lawmakers in future state parliaments.
In Brandenburg’s current 88-member parliament, only 35 of the lawmakers are women — the lowest proportion in 28 years.
The under-representation of women goes against the German constitution, which calls for equal democratic participation, the Greens argued in their motion.
The law also received the support of Brandenburg’s coalition government of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Left party.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) as well as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) voted against the measure, saying that they believe it is unconstitutional.
Two smaller parties have already said they will challenge the new law in Brandenburg’s Constitutional Court.
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