Only 3 women out of 53 MP candidates in Free Patriotic Movement internal elections

After the recent municipal elections have exposed the vacuous support of political parties to women’s rights, particularly in elections, the downslide trend is expected to continue during the upcoming parliamentary elections. While preparations are underway inside the Free Patriotic Movement (Tayyar) for internal election set for next July 30, which will allow members to directly vote for their MPs candidates. The list of FPM candidates published by As Safir on June 27 revealed the names of only 3 women out of 53 total nominees, namely Mireille Aoun (Metn), Gilberte Zuwayn (Kesrwan) and Nadine Tohmeh (Baabda). On the same subject, Al Diyar newspaper highlighted today, the importance of women’s participation in political life to promote equality, underlining Tohmeh’s long standing struggle in this respect. Tohmeh, Al Diyar noted, who represents the first generation of FPM members, had to challenge traditions that suppress women’s ambitions. Tohmeh spelled out to the newspaper her plans, if she is fortunate enough to reach the Parliament, which will include the adoption of women’s representation quota as a preliminary step for larger aspirations. She mentioned that the majority of Lebanese women have lost hope in reinforcing their role in public life including representation in parliament. (Al Diyar, July 27, As Safir, June 30, 2016)