http://www.smh.com.au/world/female-majority-takes-helm-in-conservative-switzerland-20100923-15owc.html
Female majority takes helm in conservative Switzerland September 24, 2010 Simonetta Sommaruga ... balance of power. Photo: Reuters THE Swiss have joined an elite club of nations by having more women than men in their cabinet - no mean feat considering women gained the vote in Switzerland only in 1971. It was another 13 years before a woman joined the ministry. One Swiss canton, Appenzell Inner-Rhodes, barred women from local elections until 1990. The shift in the balance of power came as the parliament in Bern voted a Social Democrat MP, Simonetta Sommaruga, onto the cabinet, or Federal Council. Switzerland is alongside Finland, Norway, Spain and Cape Verde as countries identified by the Inter-Parliamentary Union as having a majority of women in government. The Federal Council is composed of seven politicians from different parties, four of whom are now women, and does not have a fixed prime minister or president to rule the nation. ''It's a great day to see a female majority in the cabinet,'' said Claudine Esseiva, a cabinet minister herself. Spain has had nine women and eight men in its cabinet since 2008, including deputy prime minister and finance minister. The Minister of Defence, Carme Chacon, has had a baby on the job. Georg Lutz, of the social science research centre at Lausanne University, said the Swiss decision was not expected to herald a new direction in government. "What this vote shows is that gender is no longer a huge issue,'' he said. ''Policy-wise, it's not going to change much. It's the same parties in cabinet with the same number of seats." Professor Pascal Sciarini, of the political science institute of the University of Geneva, said: ''Symbolically, it is a rather powerful message . for a country with a conservative reputation to have four women in the seven government seats.'' But the male backlash has begun. Rene Kuhn, the organiser of an international anti-feminist conference in Switzerland next month, said: ''We all know that when lots of women work together there can be more problems.'' Agencies [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
