ZAGREB, 22 March, 2021 - The State Election Commission (DIP) on Monday reminded political parties and independent slates to respect the principle of gender equality and balanced representation of men and women on lists of candidates for members of representative bodies of municipalities, towns and counties in May's local elections.
In doing so, they must take care that the representation of one sex on a list is not below 40%, DIP said.
It recalled that respect for the principle of balanced representation of men and women on electoral slates did not affect the validity of those slates and that they would not be rejected if they failed to have a sufficient number of female or male candidates, but that their proposers would be fined.
Under the Gender Equality Act, fines range from HRK 40,000 for a political party or independent slate participating in elections for city councils and county assemblies to HRK 20,000 for elections for municipal councils.
Fewer councillors to be elected in May
The number of deputies in local councils and assemblies to be elected in the May 16 election depends on the number of those local government units' inhabitants and ranges from 7 for municipalities that have up to 1,000 residents, to 47, which is how many deputies will be elected to the Zagreb City Assembly and the assemblies of counties with more than 300,000 residents.
The number of local deputies to be elected in the May 16 election is smaller than four years ago.
In line with changes to the law on local elections, municipalities with up to 1,000 residents elect seven councillors, while under the old law seven councillors were elected by municipalities with up to 500 inhabitants and municipalities with up to 1,000 inhabitants elected nine deputies.
Counties with more than 300,000 residents and the City of Zagreb will each elect to their assemblies 47 councillors and previously they elected 51 deputies.
It is estimated that under the new rules, the number of members of local representative bodies will be around 10% smaller.
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