A Framework for developing Voluntary Candidate and Leadership Quota for Political

Parties: A proposal towards closing Gender gap in Tanzania

By
Hanif Issa Tuwa
Correspondence: haniftuwa@gmail.com

Introduction
Understanding that political parties provide the entry for women’s participation in leadership
and decision-making, aims to assist the political parties in their current efforts to gain more
understanding of the technicalities of quotas and to support their prospective decision to
establish voluntary quotas for women candidates and increase their participation in party
leadership. It is undisputed that “political parties shape the nature of women’s participation
in politics.” As practice around the world and Tanzania in particular, political parties set
policy agendas, recruit candidates for political office, and control channels for women to
participate in decision-making. However, positions of leadership and power [influence] in
political parties remain largely men-dominated which means, the spaces for women in
decision-making are narrow. This is a concern for promoting of intra-party democracy and
advancing gender equality nationally.
This situation exists despite the acceptability of women in political processes: 84% of
Tanzanians support equal rights for women; women’s assertiveness to engage in politics and
leadership (77% as reported in Afro-Barometer); and probability of 40% to 60% women
candidates to win seats if nominated and support nominated by their political parties. On a
more positive note, all political parties through their constitutions demonstrate an acceptance
of the human rights principles, and some the clauses and texts of gender equality are
indicative of awareness and gender sensitivity.
Moving forward, a central assumption underpinning this Framework is that through the
working sessions, party leaders genuinely now understand the relevance and the need to
gender gaps in their leadership positions and decision-making structures. Further, the
consensus on the recommendation that parties strive to achieve 50:50 provides the basis for
this Framework to inform the political parties on implementation of the necessary proactive
strategies to achieve the desired goal.
The Framework makes a business case to the party leaders for adopting the voluntary quotas,
backed by research-based evidence and highlights from the case studies. It details
programmatic strategies for developing voluntary quotas for a political party, while insisting
on paying attention to the intra-party legal, policy, and institutional frameworks shaping its
processes and practices. The Framework premises the potential implementation of the
voluntary quotas on the ongoing consultative engagement with political parties that has given
positive feedback.

Understanding “Quotas”, Implications for Women Participation and Benefits for Parties
Quotas in politics are one of the most common and effective affirmative measures that
establishes a certain percentage or number of women in decision-making and thereby reduce
the gender gap (Dahlerup 2006). The Convention to End All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPA) both laid out “quotas,” as the
means of guaranteeing women inclusion, whether as members, candidates, or elected
officials.
Today, Quotas exists in several forms, adapted to a variety of political systems, and have
different targets and percentages. Quotas can be mandatory by election law, constitutional
amendment, or adopted voluntarily. Political parties as the central route for citizen
participation in governance may adopt quotas voluntarily, to ensure women’s entry into
party leadership and contesting for electoral seats rather than hoping for the good faith of
party leaders or the nomination committees. Adopting of quotas voluntarily by a political
party signify its belief about gender equality and commitment to promoting women’s rights.
Hundreds of political parties in more than 30 countries are currently implementing quotas –
a best practice proven to increase women’s access to decision-making. Global database of
countries with quotas [a sample presented in Table 1] shows that those countries that
implements voluntary party candidate quotas are performing better in women representation
in decision-making [parliament].
Table 1 Sample of Countries with 30% Women and Quota systems
Country Women in Parliament Quota
Rwanda 56.3% Reserved Seats [30%]
Voluntary party candidate
Sweden 45.0% Voluntary party candidate
South Africa 44.5% Voluntary party candidate
Iceland 42.9% Voluntary party candidate
Norway 39.6% Voluntary party candidate
Belgium 39.3% Legislated quota
Netherlands 39.3% Voluntary party candidate
Mozambique 39.2% Voluntary party candidate
Angola 38.6% Legislated quota [30%]
Tanzania 36.0% Reserved Seats [30%]
New Zealand 33.6% Voluntary party candidate
Nepal 33.2% Legislated quotas [33%]
Germany 32.8% Voluntary party candidate
Macedonia 30.9% Legislated quota
Guyana 30.0% Legislated quota
Evidence shows that political parties have a lot to gain from adopting quotas for women as
candidates and party leaders. Some of the benefits are as follows: -
• Political Party that exhibits diversity and prioritize the gender equality agenda gains
legitimacy for being representative of the different groups in the society and improves
its public image and reputation could attract more women voters.
• Having a gender balanced party leadership brings significant benefits, because
women experiences enrich political debates and their preference to invest more in
community health and education can improve the party’s policies.
• Having quotas tends to reduce intra-party conflicts, and the party leaders can ensure
order and control – because men’s excessive fight for power harms the party’s
efficiency and its public image while women tend to be consensus-oriented.
• Candidate quotas increase the chance for party to have more legislators from among
its women candidates and can improve the inter-party democracy because women
legislators work cooperatively across party lines.
• Voluntary adoption of the candidate and leadership quotas signifies a party’s embrace
and compliance to the principles of gender equality.

Setting up and adopting of the Quotas: Proven alternatives and options for Tanzania
Whether viewed from a rights perspective or the affirmative action policy perspective, any
discussion about adopting the voluntary leadership and candidate quota, needs to come to
terms with two facts: one, there is no “one formula” for the voluntary quotas because it is all
about what the party decides as relevant and realistic. The other fact is that quotas are “as
effective as they are enforced,” which means, it takes the party to decide and commit to
increasing the number of women.
Options for Political Parties in Tanzania to set the Quotas
The ideal voluntary quota is 50 percent but experience around the world shows the
percentage for candidate quota range from 30 to 40 percent, as shown in Table 1 above. While
a party must consider what quota is realistic and achievable, the Constitution of the United
Republic of Tanzania already provides the threshold of 30 percent in Parliament and
Councils. This means the voluntary party quotas cannot be below this, and the higher
threshold signifies its commitment to equality.
Parties can opt a fixed number of women in party leadership and candidate list or percentage-
based quota depending on its internal circumstances. Where a party constitution or
regulations are silent about the size and composition of its National Executive Council or
Council, for example, a percentage-based quota is ideal because setting a fixed number of
women members could result into severe underrepresentation of women. On the other hand,
a party can ensure a balance of gender when it decides to have a minimum number of women
directors, for example, because its constitution would likely establish the number of
directorates.
When a party sets a target of 50:50 in party leadership, quotas of 30 percent can be set for the
‘executive’ positions and 20 percent for the ‘policy-making’ positions, or vice versa. Which
would ensure women participate in both managerial and policy-making positions. A party
can further have the rules stipulate that 10 percent quota would come from the national,
regional/zonal, and lower party levels, thereby granting women equal opportunities in all
levels.
Candidate quotas are easy to implement under the Proportional Representation system,
where each party nominates several candidates in each constituency. Under the current Fast-
Past-The-Post electoral system in Tanzania, political parties have the chance to implement
quotas more creatively, in various ways:
• Party’s Candidate list can comprise an equal number of women and men by adopting
the “Zebra Model” – whereby if the first on the list is a woman, then the second should
be a man, and so on. Thus, when a party wins 4 seats in proportion to its overall
electoral outcome, women secure 2 seats, and this would result into 50:50.
• At the Local Government Councils, where the number of women Mayors or Council
Chairpersons is very low, a party with Ward Councilors can decide that at least one
or two women contest in the caucus with male counterparts, and whoever wins, gets
all the votes from its other Councilors.
• Party can opt for the “adding system,” to increase the number of women.
Implementing this quota would involve the political party inserting the rule of adding
an additional woman member to at least the 2 women required to constitute the Street
Committee. This would mean that, even where Chairperson is a man, women would
make up 50 percent.
• Perhaps a more direct way to use the quota for party leadership is to have the
constitution or regulation stipulate that for every two key leadership positions; one
position becomes a “reserve” for a woman. Most parties have chairpersons and
Secretaries, with their deputies – and thus, a gender balance is very possible.
Strategies for Adoption of Quotas
Adopting the voluntary quotas means implementing some programmatic strategies informed
by a combination of short, medium, and long-term targets. The strategies are as follows:
Strategy 1: Galvanize party support and formalize quotas in party statutes
The adoption of gender equality principles in the party constitution and regulations is
important for articulating the vision of the party (for example, “a gender balance party
leadership at all levels”), and provide for establishing the mechanisms for achieving that
vision – the voluntary quotas. Some of the political parties in Tanzania have already included
statements and/or provisions supporting gender equality and promoting women’s political
participation in their constitutions and manifestos, and few even stipulate a number or
proportion of women in committees.
To concretize this, the next step is ensuring there is support for introducing the quota among
the influential party leadership, party actors, Executive Committee or Council. Given the
implications of quotas in changing the power dynamics within the party, it is imperative to
engage and win the support of men across the party ranks and membership.
Depending on the intra-party culture and gender sensitivity of the party leaders and actors,
such significant reforms necessitate sharing of the knowledge about the quota, its benefits and
demands, to reduce if not eliminate resistance and eventually coming out with a collective
voice and resolve to implement the quotas.
Strategy 2: Establish guidelines for candidate nomination
At present, candidate recruitment rules and practices differ significantly from party to party,
and some reviews have indicated their gaps from a gender perspective. A political party
needs to develop guidelines that are clear and transparent and incorporate specific rules
guaranteeing women’s inclusion and participation into the party structures.
The guidelines and/or regulations for candidate nomination must set clear target to achieve
and avoid multiple interpretations that would cause unnecessary debates and halt the
adoption process. To avoid handpicking or favoritism, the guidelines/ should define some
criteria for selection based on: the desired leadership qualities, the principle of gender
equality, or ensuring compliance to some gender provisions.
Strategy 3: Expand the pool of women candidates and build capacity
There are often concerns of a “shortage” of willing and trained women candidates with the
requisite confidence and experience to stand for election. Without a comprehensive and up-
to-date information based on the needs assessment as well as a proactive system for
recruitment and empowering of women within parties, it is more than likely that this concern
is valid. Political parties must address this concern diligently. If the situation remains as
stated, it becomes impossible for any party to reach its quota targets.
Adopting quotas would necessitate putting in place supportive mechanisms for women’s
participation to expand the pool of women aspiring to become candidates and the potential
party leaders. A political party should:
• Form strategic alliances with civil society organizations [CSOs] and use their
collaboration to grant women access to programmes for enhancing their leadership
skills and capacities.
• Support women candidates who have run for election, and use them to nurture
connections with constituencies (whether they had won) and to encourage future
women candidates.
• Match the potential women leaders with the incumbent or former party leaders and
facilitate a coaching or mentorship relationship. The relationship should focus on and
be driven by contributing to build women’s confidence, to enable their embrace of the
party’s philosophy and vision, and to increase visibility and acceptability.
Strategy 4: Place women in winnable and key leadership positions
The most effective candidate quotas are those that stipulate the placement of women in
winnable positions or constituencies, which goes beyond only specifying the number or
percentage of candidates that must be women. A political party should nominate women
candidates and place them to contest in the parties’ strongholds, thereby increasing their
winning chance.
Regarding the leadership quotas, the party must decide on the number or percentage of
women holding the party positions and go beyond by placement of women in both the
elective and appointed positions that would grant them some influence over the intra-party
policies, regulations, and practices. To achieve this, a political party has the option to reserve
specific leadership positions or headship of departments or sections to women.

Conditions that Political Parties must consider for Effective Implementation of Quotas
Many countries have legislated quotas and even those without this legal measure, political
parties commonly adopt the voluntary quotas in attempt to ensure gender diversity within
their leadership structures and to have more women candidates. However, will the voluntary
quotas really work in Tanzania without having the legislation compelling political parties? It
is prerequisite that political parties be aware and understands the preconditions for the
adoption and their effective implementation. These include:
Undertaking reforms consumes time and financial resources on the political party willing to
adopt and implement leadership and candidate quotas. This fact implies that the party and
its leaders should have a strong political will and conviction about the rationale and benefits
of quotas, both on the short and long–term.
Principles and Values of gender equality as enshrined in the Party Policy (preferably Gender
Policy) and/or the Constitution that offers guideline and regulations related to the
recruitment of party leaders and nomination of candidates.
Strong commitment of the top party leadership and the authoritative decision-making from
the party organs, such as the Executive Committee or Council or the party organ responsible
for candidate nominations. Given the voluntary nature of the quotas, their effective
implementation may call upon these organs to reject any party list or internal recruitment
process that does not adhere to quota rules.

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