 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
Egypt Region Interview International Economy Opinion Culture Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Amal Othman: the 'iron lady'
Amal Othman, 66, is a woman who has been actively involved in politics for over a quarter of a century. During her long political career, she became the first woman to serve as deputy speaker of the People's Assembly after holding the ministerial portfolio of social affairs for some 20 years. Her membership of parliament began when she was one of 10 people appointed by the late President Anwar El-Sadat to the People's Assembly in 1977.
Othman, a professor at Cairo University's Faculty of Law, became politically active in 1974 when she joined the defunct Arab Socialist Union, the nation's sole political party at the time. When the NDP was established by Sadat in 1978, Othman was one of 20 women who joined the party's ranks. She first ran for election in 1979 and won unopposed. She was later chosen to serve as the NDP's Secretary for Women's Affairs. Last February, she was appointed to the NDP's politburo.
In People's Assembly circles, Othman is viewed as the NDP's "iron lady". She chaired the Assembly's Ethics Committee, taking a hardline position against a number of NDP parliamentarians whose actions she considered not beyond scrutiny.
Othman faced an uphill battle in the 1995 elections against Maamoun El-Hodeibi, a leading figure of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, but nevertheless won the first round. Commenting on her victory, she said that "it was a big surprise to win in the first round because it is not easy at all to face a rival who uses religion to promote himself".
