ABSTRACT
T h e par l iament passed the General Election Law 12/2003 including Article 65(1) with recommendat ions that the political parties actively p romote an increased n u m b e r of women participating as political party candidates in the upcoming election. Even though the law was subject for limitations such as not being able to stipulate the exact n u m b e r of women to be included as nominees and only including the national level as subject for the quota provision, the General Election Law was seen as a victory. The women's movement had suffered several set backs in 2002 and 2003 when their lobbying railed to secure these quotas in the Political Party Law 2002 as well as the State System Law 2003. T h e passing of the Article 65(1) was the ultimate proof that the movement ' s hard work, ex tended networking and co-operation between different groups on different levels had paid off. Even though it was a compromise between the major parties that had chosen to give the quota system their support , possibly because it was a recommendat ion of non-binding na ture , it implied hope and impelled vigilance to cont inue to fight for the actual implementation of the quota by all political parties participating in the 2004 election.
