General

German oppn adopts gender parity target

Germany’s main opposition party, the centre-right Christian Democrats, adopted a quota policy for women in senior leadership roles with a goal of gender parity by 2025. Delegates for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party adopted the new rule with 559 votes for and 409 against, with 11 abstentions, at the congress in Hanover.

From next year, women must occupy a third of leadership positions at both local and national levels, climbing to 40 per cent by 2024 and then reaching 50 per cent by mid-2025. The same quotas will apply to candidate lists at general, regional and European elections. The decision settles a debate that has agitated the party of the former chancellor Angela Merkel for several years.

Former president Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was the head of the CDU between 2018 and 2021, put forward the policy.

Source: Oman Observer