Skip to main content

FIRST FEMALE MAJORITY PARLIAMENT IN EUROPE EMERGES

Iceland makes history, elects Europe's first female majority parliament


Iceland's Prime minister Katrin Jakobsdottir casting her vote on Saturday

IMAGE SOURCE,

Image caption,

Iceland's Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir casting her vote on Saturday.

Iceland is set to make history by becoming the first European country to elect a female majority to parliament.

According to projections based on the final election results, 33 of the 63 seats in the Althingi, or 52%, have been won by women.

Image caption,Iceland is set to make history by becoming the first European country to elect a female majority to parliament.According to projections based on the final election results, 33 of the 63 seats in the Althingi, or 52%, have been won by women.

This would mark an increase of nine seats from the last election in 2017.

No other European country has breached the 50% threshold, with Sweden coming closest at 47%, according to data from the Inter Parliamentary Union.

Unlike some other countries, Iceland does not have legal quotas on female representation in parliament, though some parties do require a minimum number of candidates be women.

The country has long been considered a leader in gender equality and was ranked the most gender-equal nation in the world for the 12th year running in a World Economic Forum report released in March.

It offers the same parental leave to both men and women, and its first law on equal pay for men and women dates back to 1961. It was also the first country in the world to elect a female president in 1980.

One of those elected was Lenya Rún Taha Karim of the opposition Pirate Party, who, at just 21, becomes the youngest MP in the country's history.

"I just woke up not so long ago - I'm not going to lie about it - and turned off the phone in airplane mode and it was all exploding," she told reporters. "Full, full, full of messages and I managed to look in one message and it said: Congratulations , so I assumed I had gotten in."

Just five other countries currently have parliaments where women hold at least half the seats. Rwanda leads the way, with women making up 61.3% of the members of its lower house.

It is followed by Cuba on 53.4%, Nicaragua on 50.6% and Mexico and the United Arab Emirates at 50%. Women make up just 34.2% of the members of the United Kingdom's House of Commons and just 27.6% of the House of Representatives in the United States.

Meanwhile, yesterday's election saw the incumbent left-right coalition government, led by Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, increase its majority.

However, her party, the Left Green Movement, looks set to lose several seats, while her right-wing partners gained five MPs, casting doubt over her future as prime minister.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

$100 MILLION STOLEN BY HACKERS IN CRYPTO HEIST

  Hackers steal nearly $100m in Japan crypto heist IMAGE SOURCE, Liquid has been hit by hackers, with almost $100m (£73m) estimated to have been stolen. Leading Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid has been hit by hackers, with almost $100m (£73m) estimated to have been stolen.  The company announced that some of its digital currency wallets have been "compromised." It is the second major theft of cryptocurrencies to take place in recent days.                 Last week, digital token platform Poly Network was at the centre of a $600m heist. "WE ARE SORRY TO ANNOUNCE THAT #LIQUIDGLOBAL WARM WALLETS WERE COMPROMISED, WE ARE MOVING ASSETS INTO THE COLD WALLET," THE COMPANY SAID ON TWITTER. So-called 'warm' or 'hot' digital wallets are usually based online and designed to allow users to access their cryptocurrencies more easily, while 'cold' wallets are offline and harder to access and therefore usually more secure.                            

ACTRESS SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS IN ISLAMIC SCHOOL

    Sharia Court Sentences Kannywood Actress To Six Months In Islamic School The actress, Sadiya Haruna was handed the sentence on charges of “indecent social media postings.” Credit: Instagram | Sadiya Haruna The actress, Haruna, a resident of Kabuga Quarters was initially arrested on Friday by the Head of Surveillance Department of Kano State Hisbah Board, Malam Aliyu Usman. She was then detained in the custody of the Islamic police until early Monday when she was brought before the Sharia court sitting in Sharada area of the state. According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed against her, she was alleged to have consistently posted indecent videos in which she was dancing seductively and making sexual comments on her social media handles and YouTube channel. The accused person pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of obscenity and indecent act, which contradicts section 355 of Penal Code Law 2000. The presiding judge, Justice Ali Jibril Danzaki thereafter convicted her a

Countries Accepting Nigerians Seeking Second Citizenship

  Countries Accepting Nigerians Seeking Second Citizenship Nigerians are able to access the following citizenship and immigration programs: The Caribbean Second Citizenship Programs, Caribbean nations like St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and Grenada offer second citizenship through their respective Citizenship-by-Investment programs. A holder of one of these passports may travel visa free to about 135 countries, including all European Union countries, the UK, Russia, Turkey, Singapore and Hong Kong. Holding a citizenship from one of these respected countries may also make it easier to obtain residency status or study in other countries, and allows political security and makes it easier to open bank accounts in foreign jurisdictions. To qualify, an applicant needs to be of good reputation and make a government donation of at least $100,000 USD after approval of their citizenship application.  Approval of a Citizenship-by-Investment application normally takes about 3 months, and all de