KIGALI, Sept 18: Rwanda became the first country in the world where women outnumber men in parliament, according to provisional results announced on Thursday at the close of a four-day legislative vote.

Women won 20 of the 53 seats attributed in direct elections. In Rwanda’s unique voting system, another 24 seats are reserved for women in an indirect vote.

According to an official close to the youth council, a woman may also have won one of the two seats reserved for Rwandan youth.

With 44 guaranteed seats, women would account for at least 55 per cent of the lower chamber in Rwanda.

According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), that would place Rwanda far ahead of Sweden, where women account for 47 per cent of parliament, and third-placed Cuba, where 43.2 per cent of lawmakers are women. “The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) welcomes this historical result. For the first time, an elected national parliament has a majority of women,” said IPU Secretary General Anders B. Johnsson in a statement.—AFP