by Guest

contribution by David Mentiply

Last week the Polish Sejm (parliament) passed the Parytet law which will see radical changes to Poland’s electoral landscape. At every General Election, all political parties in Poland must ensure that 35% of their local candidates are female.

In a deeply religious and socially conservative country, this could represent a breakthrough in attitudes towards women and their role in civic society.



At present, only 20% of the Polish Sejm are female. A paltry 8% sit in the Senate. Compare this with 33% in neighbouring Germany’s Bundestag, 42% in the Dutch parliament and 56% in Rwanda.

The idea of the Parytet law was first mooted back in 2007, with the creation of Partia Kobiet (the Women’s Party). The party was formed on the back of an article, Polska jest kobieta (Poland is a Woman), by the journalist Manuela Gretkowska in which she called for greater gender equality and challenged the closed-door political culture in Poland. Gretkowska highlighted the gross disparity in pay between men and women and questioned the effectiveness of endless demonstrations and signing of petitions.

Paradoxically, it was a petition that propelled the ideas of the Women’s Party into the mainstream. In Poland’s political system, if enough citizens put their names to a petition, then it can be presented to the Speaker of the House for consideration. The Women’s Party presented their petition, initially calling for the introduction of a 50% electoral shortlist.

Predictably, the petition was met with fierce opposition from across the political spectrum. Both men and women from a range of parties vocally opposed the proposals for 50% shortlists. The ultraconservative Law and Justice Party (the party of former President Lech Kaczynski) raised concerns about changes to abortion and IVF laws if more women entered politics. MPs from Donald

Tusk’s ruling Civic Platform Party were also uneasy about the consequences of a Parytet law.

In January of this year, the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection, Janusz Kochanowski, conveyed the outrage that many felt towards the possible introduction of a Parytet law. Just three months before he died in the plane crash that killed many prominent Polish politicians and officials, he said:

First it’s women, then bald people, gays and lesbians, then blacks and then Catholics. We’ve already tried this with the old socialist regime!

Senior members of the Law and Justice Party echoed Kochanowski’s views and vehemently opposed any changes to the law on the basis that those of a different skin colour or religion could soon make similar demands. In a country where 97% of the population is ethnically white Polish and the Catholic Church still has a great influence on public life, this is a spurious claim.

By the time the petition reached the Sejm, the proposals had been considerably watered down. Instead of 50%, a compromise of 35% was agreed. According to the new Polish President, Bronislaw Komorowski, Polish society was not yet ready for such radical changes to its political system.

Critics may accuse the recent passing of the Parytet law as being little more than fig leaf politics. Why was such an arbitrary figure as 35% chosen? If Poland really wants to increase the number of women in politics, the system has to be changed further as it is still unfairly bent in favour of men with connections.

The Parytet law may well mark the beginning of such a change.

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David blogs at Greensen and tweets as @greensenblog