Good practice

Timor-Leste Electoral Zipper Quota — One Woman in Every Three Candidates

Timor-Leste · Dili · See the Timor-Leste profile

Mandatory 1-in-3 zipper quota on electoral lists raised women's share of Timor-Leste's parliament from under 20% (pre-2006) to 40% in the June 2023 election — double the Asia-Pacific average — documented by IPU Parline, IFES, and IWDA.

<20% → 40%

Women in parliament (pre-2006 to 2023)

Timor-Leste Electoral Zipper Quota — One Woman in Every Three Candidates

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: STAE – Secretariado Técnico de Administração Eleitoral
Period: 2006–present
Keywords: government, electoral, political participation

Context

Timor-Leste's electoral law (6/2006, amended 2011) requires at least one woman in every three candidates on party lists, with non-compliant lists rejected.

Results

Women's share of parliament rose from under 20% before 2006 to 40% in the June 2023 election — double the Asia-Pacific average — as documented by IPU Parline, IFES and IWDA.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-23
STAE – Secretariado Técnico de Administração Eleitoral — accessed 2026-06-23
IWDA analysis (2016) — accessed 2026-06-23
IPU Parline – Timor-Leste data on women — accessed 2026-06-23
IFES 2023 election snapshot — accessed 2026-06-23
UN Women Data Hub – Timor-Leste — accessed 2026-06-23

Attachments

Source image

Quality score: 96/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 4% in this catalogue (719 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Transferability / replicability2/3

The zipper design has been actively discussed as a model for Pacific island states and adopted with variations in several countries, but full formal replication is still limited.

Impact on gender equality1/1

IPU Parline documents a rise from under 20% to 40% women MPs over three election cycles directly attributable to the quota.

Effectiveness1/1

The quota reliably achieves its 33% minimum floor, with actual outcomes exceeding it (38–40%) in every election since 2007.

Efficiency1/1

A legislative mandate requiring list composition is low-cost and high-yield relative to the scale of representation change achieved.

Evaluated outcomes1/1

Results are tracked by IPU Parline, IFES, IWDA, and UN Women Data Hub — multiple independent, credible databases.

Sustainability1/1

The quota is embedded in statute; it has survived three governments and two constitutional review cycles without removal.

Achievement / evidence1/1

The 33% minimum target has been exceeded in every election; 40% in 2023 represents sustained overperformance.

Gender-mainstreaming embedding1/1

The quota is integrated into the electoral system itself, making gender balance a precondition for list validity rather than an aspiration.

Curator validation1/1

Verified against IPU Parline, IFES 2023 election snapshot, IWDA analysis, and UN Women Timor-Leste data hub.

Cite this

Evidoria. Timor-Leste Electoral Zipper Quota — One Woman in Every Three Candidates. Persistent ID: 33e96cb5-3c72-483d-87fb-193cf09ea66e.

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