Written question asked by Joan Ruddock (Labour) on Tuesday, 31 August 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 3 November 2004. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Wednesday, 3 November 2004 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how the (a) elections and (b) political parties in Iraq will be organised to meet the constitutional requirement for 25 per cent. of seats to be held by women.

Answer: Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the (a) elections and (b) political parties in Iraq will be organised to meet the constitutional requirement for 25 per cent. of seats to be held by women. [187618] Mr. Rammell: The UK strongly supports the constitutional requirement for 25 per cent. of the seats in the Transitional National Assembly to be held by women. The Iraqi Electoral Law (CPA Order 96) stipulates (Section 4, Paragraph 3) that, "No fewer than one out of the first three candidates on the [electoral] list must be woman; no fewer than two out of the first six candidates on the list must be woman; and so forth until the end of the list".

Secondary information