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Egypt parliament gives women quota for lower house
CAIRO - The Egyptian parliament has passed a law giving women a 64 seat quota in the countrys lower chamber, an eighth of the total assembly number, according to local media reports Monday. The legislation followed a pledge made last year by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to increase the number of women in parliament and give them a more active voice in the male-dominated government.The new law also increased the total number of parliament seats to 518 from the present 454 seats that will come into effect after next years parliament elections, the leading daily Al-Ahram said. The Egyptian parliament has two chambers. The lower house, or Peoples Assembly is dominated by the ruling party. The 264-seat Upper House, called the Shoura Council, has no legislative powers and enjoys only a consultative role. The new law passed with a majority approval, while opposition parties, including Islamists and others who hold a quarter of the seats, opposed it. The legislation envisages each of Egypts 32 electoral constituencies electing two women to parliament. The law is set to expire after two five year parliament terms, meaning it will be up for reviewed in 10 years. Currently, there are only nine women in the lower chamber, mostly appointed personally by Mubarak to ensure female representations in parliament. Abdel-Ahad Gamal Eddin, a leading lawmaker of Mubaraks ruling National Democratic Party that proposed the bill, described it as a historic and a civilized legislation. The parliaments opposition bloc, including the conservative Muslim Brotherhood and the secular Wafd party, both opposed the law. Mahmoud Abaza, the Wafd party leader, said it violates the constitution because it goes against basic principles of equality among citizens. He also complained that opposition parties were not consulted. The bill came out of the blue without any discussions with the opposition parties or in the civil society, Abaza said. Some independent lawmakers issued a statement warning the women quota was doomed to failure. But the senior NPD member and parliament speaker, Fathi Sorour, dismissed the oppositions remarks as a call for a return to the middle ages through backwardness. Posted by: Steve White 2009-06-16 |
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