See also special areas

At a glance

Structure of Parliament: Bicameral

Are there legislated quotas...

  • No for the Single/Lower House?
  • Yes for the Upper House?
  • No at the Sub-national level?

Are there voluntary quotas...

  • No adopted by political parties?

Senegal

(Republic of Senegal)

Single/Lower house

Assemblée nationale / National Assembly

Total seats:150
Total women:33
% women: 22%
Election year:2007
Electoral system:Parallel
Quota type: No legislated
Election details: IDEA Voter Turnout
IPU Parline

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Last updated 2010-07-08

Upper house

Sénat / Senate

Total seats: 100
Total women:40
% women: 40%
Election year:2007
Electoral system:Indirectly elected / Appointed
Quota type: Reserved seats
Legal sourceDetails
Quota type:
Reserved seats
 Constitution In 2007, the Upper House of Senegal was reinstated. Amended in 2008, Article 60 (1) of the constitution states: "at least two-fifths of the Senators shall be women". In addition, Article 7 reads: "An Act of Parliament shall promote the equal access of women and men to elected office and public functions". No such act has yet been formulated.
Legal sanctions for non-compliance: N/A No data available
Rank order/placement rules: N/A No data available

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Last updated 2010-07-08

Additional information

In the Upper House, 35 of the senators, among whom 4 women, were indirectly elected, while 65 (36 women) were appointed by the president. After the formation of government, some seats in the Lower House were left vacant and filled with female MPs, bringing the total number of women to 33, or 22 percent.

Previously: Members of various Senegalese political parties, women's organisations and a NGO-network have pushed for a gender quota for electoral lists. In 2007, a law on gender parity on candidate lists for the June 3 legislative elections were passed in parliament, but ruled as being unconstitutional by the Constitutional Council.

Senegal Socialist Party (SSP) used to have quotas (30 percent for women and 20 percent for young people), while Senegalese Liberal Party (PLS) had a quota rule of 33 percent for women. SSP boycotted the last elections and is no longer represented in parliament, while PLS merged with Senegalese Democratic Party in 2003 and is now a part of the ruling Sopi coalition, which has not adopted quotas.
Last updated 2009-10-15

Sources

Constitution of the Republic of Senegal, amended in 2008. http://www.gouv.sn/textes/constitution.html

The Global Legal Monitor, Issue 6 2007 http://www.loc.gov/law/news/global-monitor/2007_glm_06.pdf

Additional reading

Senegal | Africa | Global

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