We interviewed Associate Professor of the School of Politics and International Relations of the University of Nottingham, Fernando Casal Bertoa during the two-day international forum named “Pledge for Equal Representation in Decision-Making”, which took place last week, to talk about the regulations of Mongolia related to election quotas, internal democracy of political parties and electoral system.

At the event, experts and researchers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia, Nepal, the USA, and Spain as well as representatives of political parties, civil society and media, discussed political party leadership for gender equality and legal reforms to ensure gender equality at the decision-making level. They mainly exchanged views on improving the legal environment, strengthening support mechanisms, and especially increasing the role and leadership of political parties.

Dr. Fernando Casal Bertoa was a Nottingham Research Fellow working on “The Institutionalization of European Party Systems: Explaining Party Competition in 48 Democracies (1848-2016)”. Until 2013, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Leiden. He studied law at the University of Navarra, as well as political science at the University of Salamanca. After specializing in eastern and central European studies at the Jagiellonian University, he obtained his PhD at the European University Institute with a dissertation titled, “The Institutionalization of Party Systems in East Central Europe: Explaining Variation”. He is currently co-director of the Research Centre for the Study of Parties and Democracy, member of the OSCE/ODIHR “Core Group of Political Party Experts”, and expert of the Council of Europe and International IDEA.

Can you please give us a little bit of your field of study and what do you hope to achieve by giving advice to Mongolia?

Since I am an associate professor in comparative politics, I teach and research it, as well as to compare political parties and party systems around the world. I specialize in three topics: party system stability, democracy, and relations of political parties, which is what connected me with this event. I also try to promote democracy around the world. I intend to give advice to improve and increase the participation of women in the country’s politics. Since only 17 percent of Parliament members are women, Mongolia ranks last fourth in the world in terms of gender equality in politics. There are three other democracies with such few female parliamentarians. So it’s clearly a problem. My idea is that electoral institutions and their funding relationships should be changed to encourage women’s political participation.

Why do you think Mongolia has such a low performance in terms of gender political policy?

There are different issues institutionally. There are institutions that do not to promote women. They think that women are the worst prepared. But women are smart, intelligent, and are given responsibility to show their qualities. Unfortunately, they are not allowed because of institutional issues.

In your opinion, what other problems do institutions have in Mongolia?

Another problem is the electoral system. Mongolia has an electoral system that is very disproportional and doesn’t allow women’s real participation and quota system. Quota system works well in the proportional electoral system. For Mongolia, a quota system is very difficult to work because it usually organizes its elections using the majoritarian electoral system. Even if the country keeps the 50/50 electoral system, it will not work if a closed list is entered instead of an open list. Quotas are essential, as they pledge to increase electoral quota for women. If you don’t accompany it, all your changes in the legislation will be controversial.

Which electoral system is more effective in Mongolia?

People need to understand that people have to go through political parties and their policies. If politicians really want to promote political parties, they must understand that they have to implement an electoral system that is helpful and promotes political parties. This is only one side of the problem. Of course, finances are more important. We know that one of the main obstacles women face in politics is lack of funding. Parties do not invest in women. We know this is reality. So what we need is to use state subsidies or public funding to promote women in politics. We can do this in many different ways. First of all, you need to have enough funding. I know this is a general discussion in Mongolia because Mongolians do not trust political parties. So they ask, “Why should we donate to political parties?” My research has shown that even state funding helps political parties become strong, accountable, and stable. Political parties should have sufficient public funds, as this will help to increase the participation of women in politics on certain issues.

On top of that, a certain part of this fund should be devoted to the promotion of women in politics. This is called earmarking public funds for gender representation. It specifically aims to promote women’s political participation and education. We know that women are more moderate than men. Therefore, it helps create polarization in the party system. Moreover, women are less corrupt than men. If the parties don’t implement it, public funding may not be provided. For parties, public funding is very important financially, so this is a factor that will support women. In addition, an additional share of state funds can be allocated to parties that promote women in politics. In general, there are various methods and tools that you can use.

Mongolia can also set specific thresholds for media access. One way to support women in politics is to give political parties access of the media. A minimum level of media access should be specified. At this lower level, you must represent women and guarantee their freedom. There are indirect means of public finance, such as free transport for election campaigns. Moreover, you can take specific measures to ensure gender equality. There are different ways, but this is definitely not enough, you need to change your mindset. Political parties have had educational functions to change it. Having women in politics is good for everyone. I come from a male dominated Spain. I was born more than 40 years ago. Currently, women’s power in Spain is almost 45 percent. It has a 50/50 representation in government. However, Mongolia has three female ministers. The last time I came here in 2019, there was only one woman minister. It’s an improvement, but it’s not enough. See how Spain has changed since I was born. This is possible even in a male-dominated culture. Therefore, Mongolia should try to introduce and implement the right mechanisms, change society and educate voters. Maybe you’ll get your benefits in 20 years, but if you don’t start tomorrow, you won’t get it ever.

What changes have you noticed in Spain in 40 years?

We have a 40 percent electoral quota. Political parties are also adopting internal quotas. There’s change in culture. In particular, we are way past thinking that women were only good wives and should take care of the children. Nowadays, women have equal rights to men. We have had various speakers of Parliament that are women. As I mentioned before, we have 50 percent of women in government. The minister of defense has been female two or three times. There was a change in these institutions and mentality. Therefore, Mongolia needs to target both female and male youngsters.

Do you think they would have been better policies with more women participating in these electoral processes?

We have the least representative policies. It’s very difficult to say what is better and what is worse because political parties have different interests. We have policies that affect women. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes this doesn’t depend on having women in politics or not. But at least there is the woman perspective in the legislation. If women constitute 51 percent of Mongolian society, it is fair that legislation also takes into consideration the interest of that percentage of women.

In recent years, our country has fallen many places in the democracy index. For example, the decline in the corruption index was due to the low level of democracy. What do you think is the reason for this?

This is a really worrying issue. Because we have to understand that Mongolia has always been portrayed as a “paradise” or oasis in Central Asia as it is surrounded by Russia and China. However, the current level of democracy and corruption is worrying. Political parties are responsible for this issue. In the last two elections, almost only one party dominated. This is also related to democracy. Because democracy requires alternation. You have had the same party for eight years already. In next elections, they may win again, they have a constitutional majority twice. I am not saying that it is wrong but it is important to have multiple parties because there are few parties.

You mentioned that there are few political parties. Mongolia has three million people. There are 36 political parties. There are people who say that there is a lot. Did you say that because there is no active party?

There are three parties elected to Parliament. In reality, it can be seen that one and a half parties are at the parliamentary level. It is not enough.

You have worked for a long time to improve the legal environment of political parties. Mongolia still applies the law adopted in 2005. This law has not been updated or changed for 20 years. What’s your position on this?

I think the country is too obsessed with constitutional amendment. If you focus on constitutional changes only, you cannot focus on the things that are also very important. I think that the draft law on political parties was better than the old one.