Gov’t Proposes Reserved Seats for Women and Youth in Parliament

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has proposed introducing reserved seats in Parliament for women and youth as part of efforts to improve representation in governance.

Speaking at the Espresso With the President event, the President stated that women and young people remain underrepresented in Parliament despite having the opportunity to contest elections. He noted that this is largely due to limitations within mainstream political processes, where they are often not selected as candidates.

To address the issue, the President proposed allocating 10 per cent of parliamentary seats each for women and youth. The proposal is currently under discussion, with the President seeking public opinion, particularly from women and young people.

He expressed the view that reserved representation is necessary to ensure inclusive governance. Citing voter demographics, he noted that youth account for 39 per cent of the electorate, while women represent 49 per cent, highlighting a disparity between population and parliamentary representation. He described the proposed policy as a form of positive discrimination aimed at increasing participation.

The President also stated that the total number of parliamentary seats, currently at 93, would not be increased under the proposal. Based on the suggested allocation, this would result in nine seats each for women and youth under the age of 30.

He further indicated that, if implemented, the seats could be distributed through a fair mechanism such as a rotation or lottery system to determine constituencies, similar to the existing method used in council elections to allocate seats for women.

The President clarified that the proposal is not connected to the upcoming public referendum and would be pursued independently of its outcome.