GRAPHIC: Women Still Underrepresented in Parliament

Parliament has long been dominated by men – this is shown by an analysis from the Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS).

Back in 2020, Serbia’s electoral law was amended in an effort to increase the representation of women on party lists, and thus in the National Assembly. According to these amendments, every electoral list seeking public support must include at least 40% women. Previous versions of the law required that one out of every three candidates be a woman, which amounts to about 33% female candidates.

However, this rule has not significantly changed the make-up of the National Assembly. In the two parliaments formed after the amendment, female MPs have remained in the minority.

For years CINS has monitored the remuneration of Serbian MPs, including salary and expenses. In 2020 we published this data in a report, How Much Does an MP Cost?, in which citizens could see how much they had been paid from the beginning of 2016 to the end of 2019.

The law entitles MPs to certain benefits. For instance, if they are not from Belgrade, the parliament will pay their lodging expenses (in a hotel with less than five stars, or in a rental apartment). It will also reimburse them for fuel if they come in their own car, and provides free parking in three public garages for the duration of parliamentary sessions.

Na istu temu:

MPs Get Millions for Fuel Solely Based on Their Own Statements

Graph: How Much Women Earn Compared to Men

But we discovered that the MPs are also refunded for expenses “on their honour”. In particular, deputies who drove to Belgrade for parliamentary sessions were found to be justifying their fuel expenses with simple signed statements rather than actual receipts.

In the past ten years, by far the highest number of members of parliament have come from Belgrade, and men dominated here as well: around 63% of the MPs from the capital represented the citizens of Serbia. In 20 places, there was gender “equality,” and those who served in multiple convocations were counted only once.

Even in the largest parties, male MPs outnumber female MPs. The situation is slightly changed in the current parliament: the Socialist Party (SPS), the Social Democratic Party (SDPS) and the Democratic Party (DS) sent an equal number of male and female MPs to the parliamentary benches in 2024.

Another quirk is noticeable: there were more young MPs in the 2020 parliament than in others. In that year, the list of President Aleksandar Vučić also included young politicians such as Lav-Grigorije Pajkić, Nevena Đurić, and Luka Kebara – all still active in the ranks of the ruling party today. That situation was only temporary: in the last two parliaments, young MPs made up less than a fifth of the parliamentary body.

Read about Brussels MEPs in the research of the European Data Journalism Network (EDJNet).

In partnership with the European Data Journalism Network (EDJNet)