Can there be real progress in women political participation without a quota system?

The representation rate of women participation in the 2016 municipal elections has reportedly risen by 1% compared to the 2010 elections, according to Al Mustaqbal daily which based its information on the results published by the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) and the CEDAW Report on Women Status. Exploring some factors that impede the actual participation of women in public life, the newspaper pointed out to deliberate attempts to obliterate the achievements by women and discourage them from running for or voting in the elections. It drew attention to the reluctance of Lebanese political parties to nominate women for decision making positions. Al Mustaqbal pressed for the need to raise community awareness in this direction through the development of the concepts of equality and citizenship, and backing the women representation quota in the municipal or parliamentary electoral laws, as well as in state jobs. For his part, the President of the Mabarat Charity Association, Sayyid Ali Fadlallah, stressed the important role of women who have proved their competence and distinctiveness in all realms. Fadlallah who was speaking during an Iftar banquet held by the Mabarat Women’s Committee, warned that society becomes weaker when it ignores or demotivates its women, whether in the political or development fields. He lamented women’s unnoticeable presence as ministers, or members in Parliaments or municipal boards, or even in women advocate groups. “We do not want a women’s quota, rather we want a true and effective partnership with women,” Fadlallah maintained, adding, “We need legislations that protect women from the hegemony of men and society, and we support every law that contributes to this protection.” There is a need to differentiate between traditions and religion and to stand against traditions that infringe on the essence of religion, Fadlallah explained. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, June 10 and 14, 2016)