This is a condition to be met by political parties for legislative elections: to respect parity. Since 2014, the rule is not to exceed 2% difference between the number of men and women. Clearly, out of 100 candidates, the parties must present 49 people of one sex and 51 people of the other sex maximum. If this gap is exceeded, they lose part of public funding. And that figures quickly: this drop in subsidy is calculated at 150% of this difference. If we take the example of 200 candidates, with 130 men and 70 women, the party therefore loses 45% of public funding.
>> Infographics: the typical legislative candidate is a 49-year-old man named Philippe
The only “big” party clearly in the red is Les Républicains: almost twice as many men as women involved. Their treasurer, Daniel Fasquelle, concedes that they have difficulty separating from the outgoing. “It is sometimes complicated and difficult to dismiss certain male candidates when they have the perfect profile to make good legislative candidates on the sole grounds of parity.
And reversing the trend in a party built by men is not easy, still pleads Daniel Fasquelle. “From the moment when we have mainly men at the head of town halls, local authorities, mechanically, this leads to a deficit in terms of parity, when choosing a candidate for the legislative elections.” But this party history promises parity. This is the big job of the Republicans.
However, “old” parties seem to have made more efforts. The Socialist Party has succeeded, with 35 women and 35 men candidates for the National Assembly presented as part of the New popular, ecological and social union (Nupes), but that means fighting against old habits, says Pierre Jouvet, secretary national in charge of the elections. “Sometimes we had to bang our fists on the table a little bit and twist the arm of certain departmental officials because it was a bit complicated to have candidates and we were sometimes offered too many candidates.” Especially since women still sometimes have trouble getting started.
“When you ask a man to be a candidate he says yes, right away. When you ask a candidate, she takes the time to reflect and we had to convince a certain number of candidates.”
Pierre Jouvetat franceinfo
The problem is that even when the parity objective is met in detail, it can be more nuanced. At the National Rally, for example, barely more candidates than female candidates. But women recover the most difficult constituencies. “There is no desire to reserve good constituencies for men, retorts Philippe Olivier, MEP and political adviser to Marine Le Pen. This is the bonus for people who are established. 90% of constituencies are filled by locals This choice somewhat dictates parity or non-parity.” But he affirms that feminizing the party is a real will, in particular by reusing an argument: the RN is chaired by a woman.