{"id":102598,"date":"2006-11-28T09:28:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-28T09:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.moldova.org\/2006\/11\/28\/moldovan-politician-urges-women-to-run-for-office-20687-eng\/"},"modified":"2006-11-28T09:28:00","modified_gmt":"2006-11-28T09:28:00","slug":"moldovan-politician-urges-women-to-run-for-office-20687-eng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/moldovan-politician-urges-women-to-run-for-office-20687-eng\/","title":{"rendered":"Moldovan Politician Urges Women To Run for Office"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Olga Nicolenco says women need to work together at every level of government <\/p>\n

By Louise Fenner
\nUSINFO Staff Writer <\/p>\n

\nWashington – Acquiring political power and working together for common goals are the best ways women can bring about social change, according to Olga Nicolenco, a women’s rights advocate and 2005 candidate for mayor of Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. <\/p>\n

“I wanted to show women that it is possible,” Nicolenco said of her campaign, which she ran with very little money. She works tirelessly to encourage other women to run for political office because “if you do not have power, you cannot do anything. If you have power, you can put all your talents in the service of society.” <\/p>\n

Nicolenco also believes that women in office should support each other, and should work together to improve the lives of other women in their countries. <\/p>\n

\"\"Like many other countries that achieved independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, Moldova is struggling with its Soviet legacy, including an “old mentality” that “only a man can be chief, boss, director, minister, president,” Nicolenco told USINFO during an interview in Washington where she is completing a five-month fellowship. “I want to change this situation.” <\/p>\n

Moldovans elected a Communist, Vladimir Voronin, as president in 2001, and again in 2005. Communists hold 56 out of 101 seats in parliament. There are 22 women deputies (members) in parliament, including one woman from Nicolenco’s Social Liberal Party (SLP). <\/p>\n

Nicolenco wants more women from her own party in parliament, she said, but more than that, she wants to see a strong representation of women in all the parties. There are 26 parties in Moldova, with five holding seats in parliament. <\/p>\n

Nicolenco, 45, is in Washington on a Reagan-Fascell Fellowship sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a private, nonprofit group that provides grants to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working abroad to strengthen democratic institutions. As the first women from Moldova to be awarded the fellowship, she is working on strategies to increase women’s involvement in local public administration in her country, where she is head of the Chisinau chapter and permanent bureau member of the SLP. She has been instrumental in the establishment of the SLP’s women’s caucus. <\/p>\n

She believes women “have an obligation for our population, for our children and for Moldova” to hold decision-making positions in government. Looking ahead to local elections in Moldova in 2007, Nicolenco is working to convince women to run for office, ranging from positions on town councils to mayor. More representation by women would help address problems involving schools, women and the elderly population, she said. <\/p>\n

Women candidates face some unique challenges, she said, including a higher level of poverty than men, reluctance in the business community to support campaigns of women candidates, media coverage that is often biased against opposition candidates – the NGO Freedom House in 2006 designated Moldovan media as “not free” – and what Nicolenco calls “the mentality of the past” that expects women to stay at home. <\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, women in Moldova don’t vote for women,” Nicolenco said, adding that those women who do achieve office, such as the 22 deputies in parliament, do not work together to advocate legislation or solve problems. <\/p>\n

She was impressed that the women senators in the U.S. Congress gathered for a bipartisan workshop and were photographed together one week after the November 7 midterm elections. <\/p>\n

“This doesn’t happen in the Moldovan parliament,” she said. <\/p>\n

The 110th U.S. Congress will have 16 women in the Senate and at least 71 women in the House of Representatives when it convenes in January 2007. A runoff election in Louisiana might increase the number in the House of Representatives to 72. <\/p>\n

Concerning the victory of Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, who was chosen by the Democratic Caucus as the first woman speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nicolenco said, “I feel like it is my victory.” <\/p>\n

She said Moldovans have asked her if she plans to work in the United States following her fellowship. “I say definitely not. America is good without me. America doesn’t need me, but Moldova needs me.” <\/p>\n

In the 2005 Chisinau mayoral race, four rounds of elections were held. All were invalidated because of low voter turnout. The current acting Chisinau mayor is Vasile Ursu, the former vice mayor, who ran as an independent candidate. The next municipal elections are scheduled for 2007, and Nicolenco said she plans to run for mayor or membership on the municipal council, depending on her party’s decision. \/\/ U.S. Department of State<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>Moldovan Politician Urges Women Office Olga Nicolenco<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"content_social_share":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Olga Nicolenco says women need to work together at every level of government <\/p>\n

By Louise Fenner
\nUSINFO Staff Writer <\/p>\n

\nWashington – Acquiring political power and working together for common goals are the best ways women can bring about social change, according to Olga Nicolenco, a women’s rights advocate and 2005 candidate for mayor of Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. <\/p>\n

“I wanted to show women that it is possible,” Nicolenco said of her campaign, which she ran with very little money. She works tirelessly to encourage other women to run for political office because “if you do not have power, you cannot do anything. If you have power, you can put all your talents in the service of society.” <\/p>\n

Nicolenco also believes that women in office should support each other, and should work together to improve the lives of other women in their countries. <\/p>\n

\"\"Like many other countries that achieved independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, Moldova is struggling with its Soviet legacy, including an “old mentality” that “only a man can be chief, boss, director, minister, president,” Nicolenco told USINFO during an interview in Washington where she is completing a five-month fellowship. “I want to change this situation.” <\/p>\n

Moldovans elected a Communist, Vladimir Voronin, as president in 2001, and again in 2005. Communists hold 56 out of 101 seats in parliament. There are 22 women deputies (members) in parliament, including one woman from Nicolenco’s Social Liberal Party (SLP). <\/p>\n

Nicolenco wants more women from her own party in parliament, she said, but more than that, she wants to see a strong representation of women in all the parties. There are 26 parties in Moldova, with five holding seats in parliament. <\/p>\n

Nicolenco, 45, is in Washington on a Reagan-Fascell Fellowship sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a private, nonprofit group that provides grants to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working abroad to strengthen democratic institutions. As the first women from Moldova to be awarded the fellowship, she is working on strategies to increase women’s involvement in local public administration in her country, where she is head of the Chisinau chapter and permanent bureau member of the SLP. She has been instrumental in the establishment of the SLP’s women’s caucus. <\/p>\n

She believes women “have an obligation for our population, for our children and for Moldova” to hold decision-making positions in government. Looking ahead to local elections in Moldova in 2007, Nicolenco is working to convince women to run for office, ranging from positions on town councils to mayor. More representation by women would help address problems involving schools, women and the elderly population, she said. <\/p>\n

Women candidates face some unique challenges, she said, including a higher level of poverty than men, reluctance in the business community to support campaigns of women candidates, media coverage that is often biased against opposition candidates – the NGO Freedom House in 2006 designated Moldovan media as “not free” – and what Nicolenco calls “the mentality of the past” that expects women to stay at home. <\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, women in Moldova don’t vote for women,” Nicolenco said, adding that those women who do achieve office, such as the 22 deputies in parliament, do not work together to advocate legislation or solve problems. <\/p>\n

She was impressed that the women senators in the U.S. Congress gathered for a bipartisan workshop and were photographed together one week after the November 7 midterm elections. <\/p>\n

“This doesn’t happen in the Moldovan parliament,” she said. <\/p>\n

The 110th U.S. Congress will have 16 women in the Senate and at least 71 women in the House of Representatives when it convenes in January 2007. A runoff election in Louisiana might increase the number in the House of Representatives to 72. <\/p>\n

Concerning the victory of Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, who was chosen by the Democratic Caucus as the first woman speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nicolenco said, “I feel like it is my victory.” <\/p>\n

She said Moldovans have asked her if she plans to work in the United States following her fellowship. “I say definitely not. America is good without me. America doesn’t need me, but Moldova needs me.” <\/p>\n

In the 2005 Chisinau mayoral race, four rounds of elections were held. All were invalidated because of low voter turnout. The current acting Chisinau mayor is Vasile Ursu, the former vice mayor, who ran as an independent candidate. The next municipal elections are scheduled for 2007, and Nicolenco said she plans to run for mayor or membership on the municipal council, depending on her party’s decision. \/\/ U.S. Department of State<\/p>\n

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