JINHA

ANKARA – Turkey’s political parties have released their Parliamentary candidate lists ahead of Turkey’s November 1 election. Women are once again underrepresented in the lists, but the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) leads with a 40.9% female list.

As Turkey approaches another election, women’s representation on Parliamentary candidate lists is again far from reaching parity. The left HDP is running the most women candidates, with a 40.9% female list.

The AKP lost its single-party majority in Turkey’s Parliament in the June 7 general elections in the country. After political parties refused to form a coalition throughout the summer, the country is now headed for an early election on November 1. The parties have now released their lists of Parliamentary candidates for the November election. The most recent election led to the highest number of women in Turkey’s history entering Parliament. However, Parliamentary lists for the next election promise to continue the tradition of male dominance in Parliament.

After the left HDP, the CHP has the highest percentage of women at 22.75%. The right-wing parties MHP and AKP fall far behind with 12% and 14% female candidates, respectively.

The HDP has the highest ratio of women candidates, at 40.9%. Women candidates are at the top of the list in 22 provinces and outnumber male candidates in 16 provinces as part of the party’s commitment to “democratic people’s power.” Polls predict that the HDP will send between 35 and 40 female representatives to Turkey’s 550-seat Parliament.

(de/fk/cm)