Germany: record numbers of female representives elected
(Brussels 02 October) From our German Members, Deutscher Frauenrat, comes this article about the record number of women elected to public office in Germany. Angela Merkel will remain Chancellor of Germany, and of the 630 newly elected/re-elected members of the Bundestag, 229 are female. The proportion of women in parliament reached the highest level in the history of the Federal Republic. It is currently at 36.3% and is a 3.4% increase on the 2009 election results.
This increase is due to several reasons, among which is the current proportion of women in the SPD (Social Democratic Party) which has 42% female members. Thus, the social democrats have exceeded their minimum internal rate of 40% for the first time.
Majority of women on the left and in the Greens
The left remains very female, with a stable rate of 56 percent, closely followed by the Greens with 55%, a marked 4% increase in women in their group.
CDU again well below 30 percent quorum
The CDU perform less well in this particular area; the female MPs are approximately 24% and remain well iwithin the minority. The CDU also have failed to reach the 30% party quorum this term- despite their high degree of popularity with voters.
