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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 September 2000 Issue No. 498 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 September 2000 Issue No. 498
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Rehashing representation
By Salama Ahmed Salama
Elections to the People's Assembly are almost upon us, and that usually means renewed efforts to redress past mistakes. There is grave concern that women and Copts are so shamefully underrepresented -- an abnormal phenomenon, but one which has persisted in past elections. A more equitable representation of both groups is necessary. Party lists have not yet been disclosed, since everything is on hold: the campaigns will not start until the dates are announced, and then there will be the final touches to be made. The three-stage voting process will be subjected to judicial monitoring throughout. Still, much manoeuvring is already underway, and deals are being struck over the candidates to be nominated for specific constituencies, most prominently within the NDP. With all this going on, it is easy to forget that no time remains for candidates to publicise their platforms. Voters will barely have a chance to know who is who, let alone form an opinion about the candidates' political abilities or integrity.
For some reason, efforts to encourage women candidates are being more highly publicised than similar efforts to improve the representation of Copts. Thus there is already reason to believe that, once again, the president will resort to appointing 10 Coptic representatives. In such a context, turning down the candidacy of a Copt running on the independent ticket of an Islamist party seems absurd. Efforts to improve the representation of Copts and women through free, direct elections are still, at best, plans conceived at the top and pushed down. Little or no popular support sustains them; nor do voters intend to elect a woman or a Copt in order to improve representation.
As far as women are concerned, the National Women's Council has mainly backed NDP candidates, but also supports women running on other party tickets and as independents. The NWC has stated that it will support candidates distinguished by their political effectiveness and ability to withstand the psychological and social pressure that accompany the election experience. These difficult conditions, however, merely reflect the general attitude of a society given to pampering men and exaggerating their role as the cornerstone of political life and public work.
Although elections are literally around the corner, the NWC has done little more than hold meetings to encourage women who feel they are up to the ordeal. In such endeavours, the NWC will certainly give first priority to NDP women candidates, then independents, and lastly to candidates of all other parties.
This top-down approach cannot persuade the voters to alter patterns they have followed for decades. Mass campaigns explaining the benefits of women's representation would have been far more effective. The current preference is to reserve five per cent of the NDP list of candidates to women, or else to allocate a number of constituencies to women. Instead of taking such measures, a sustained effort should have been launched long before now, involving the creation of working committees at the village, town and governorate levels. These committees should have targeted women, urging them to participate by voting, but also by their involvement in political activity in general.
Given that this has not been done, there is little chance for the representation of women and Copts to improve in the upcoming elections. In fact, with the judiciary monitoring the polls to ascertain that elections are relatively free and fair, such an improvement could be all but impossible.
