RIGHTS: Argentine Women Battle to Join Bank Board

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 15 1998 (IPS) - Back in 1991, the government approved a law which enabled women to occupy close to 30 percent of the seats in the Argentine Congress. But the struggle for gender equality is on again because of the latest appointments to the board of directors of a powerful bank that manages the budget for the capital. All the new members are men.

The arguments behind the appointment of only men to the board of directors of the Banco Ciudad, ranked 11th in Argentina according to the volume of deposits, cedntred on the qualifications of the appointees.

“The positions require specific qualifications and capabilities, and those should prevail over formal questions such as gender quotas, ” said one of the bank’s legal advisors.

Zita Montes de Oca, founder of the Database of Women in Politics – which has collected the details of more than 800 women qualified to occupy public positions – labelled such arguments as “inadmissable” and “absurd.”

“Men are very generous when it comes to giving up position in Congress, as many women obey the mandates of their parties. But when it comes to disputing positions of real power, like in the case of managing a bank, there is resistance,” she said. “We are in a democracy, and that means we should have opportunities.”

The Constitution of the City of Buenos Aires, approved two years ago, also reiterates the 30 percent quota that incorporates women into the administration of the institutions of the Argentine capital. The bank is one of these institutions.

However, the appointment of eight men was approved by the mayor, Fernando de la Rua, and his economics minister, and ratified by national congressional representatives of the ruling party as well as the main parties of the opposition.

No one brought up the fact that the appointment was in violation of an article of the Constitution, which requires the incorporation of at least two women to the board of directors.

Maria Jose Lubertino one of the feminist leaders who participated in the Constitutional Assembly that drew up constitution for the city made the point that the appointments were not the result of a competitive search.

“They were political appointments, proportionate to each party,” she said.

Lubertino, who also presides over the Political and Social Institute for Women, noted that the women that could have been possible candidates “think differently,”, and many are linked to topics such as integration, support for credit to small enterprises, and other economic issues.

Congressional representatives from all parties represented in the Parliament have been notified about the violation of the quotas law, and are currently working on a joint presentation to the authorities.

Meanwhile, protests have poured in from feminist organizations in Spain, Italy, France, Great Britain, Australia and Sweden.

Between 1993 and 1997, the quotas law allowed for the expansion of the number of women in Congress from 13 to 73, over a total of 257 seats. In the Senate, where the quotas law does not apply, there are only four women occupying a total of 72 seats.

In the federal justice system, women occupy 20 percent of the positions. Among heads of municipalities, women make up 4.8 percent. There are nine women ambassadors, and one women minister of the national cabinet.