Most women candidates support political quota system

The majority of women who ran in the recent local elections believe a quota system is needed to ensure women are adequately represented in politics.

A survey by the National Women's Council has found that some female candidates were bullied or intimidated from within political parties and received a generally negative attitude from the public.

The council is calling for new laws to compel parties to put forward an equal number of male and female candidates for the next General Election.

Only 16% of people elected in June were women, down from 19% in the 2004 local elections.