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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 23 - 29 November 2000 Issue No.509 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 23 - 29 November 2000 Issue No.509
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The meaning of success
By Amina ElbendaryWhen tuning into pre-election campaigning, you'd have been excused for thinking that Egyptian women only got the vote in the year 2000. Businessmen and women were touted as the rising stars of the new People's Assembly in December. However, while in terms of numbers businessmen managed to live up to the expectations, and even surpass them in many constituencies, women didn't fare that much better this time around than has traditionally been the case.
Despite the disappointment expressed by many across the political spectrum that only 23 women were nominated on official party lists, a greater number of women chose to run as independents, which boosted the total number of women who contested this year's elections to an unprecedented 120. This increase, and the institutional support provided by the newly formed National Council for Women (NCW), as well as a general political movement in favour of inclusiveness, all helped to ensure that seven women won seats, up from five in the 1995 elections.
While this increase is not huge, it represents the highest number of women MPs to have won elections to the People's Assembly since the abrogation of the 1979 law that designated a specific number of parliamentary seats for women. It still remains to be seen how many women the President of the Republic will include among the 10 MPs he is empowered to appoint by the constitution.
The change that really was significant is the calibre of the new female candidates. Traditionally, the majority of both women and men who were elected are members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). The NDP did sustain a comfortable lead this time, but there was a noticeable shift in favour of independents -- even at the expense of some of the icons of the ruling party. Thus Thoraya Labna and Galila Awwad, who had served several terms as NDP MPs, lost. Other NDP old guards like Amal Osman and Fayda Kamel retained their seats.
The star of the elections was Nariman El-Daramalli, who ran in the Upper-Egyptian constituency of Tema in the governorate of Sohag. Ignoring the popular belief that the Egyptian countryside, and the south in particular, is politically conservative and, therefore, less inclined to vote for women, Nariman El-Daramalli managed to win her seat with a comfortable 15,000-vote majority. Even though El-Daramalli is a resident of Cairo, she has maintained contact with her upper Egyptian roots.
The majority of the seven female winners were from outside the metropolis: Awatef Kahk from Fayoum, Azza El-Kashef from Damietta, Zeinab El-Fayzi from Beni Suef and Fayza Kamel from Minya. This suggests that the determining factor in voting is not necessarily political affiliation or gender, but more particularly a candidate's ability to provide services for the members of their constituency.
Women MPs are nevertheless criticised that after they manage to make it to the People's Assembly they do not actively engage in the business of the house. In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly on the eve of the elections, Mervat Tellawi, secretary-general of the NCW, conceded that this is a valid concern. To counter it, the NCW's political department, she hopes, "will serve as a back-up office for the women representatives to acquaint them with the main issues and legislation coming up for parliamentary debate and help them in preparing position papers on each of these issues and bills. We need to acquaint them with the ramifications and consequences of each draft law and supply them with relevant statistics and legal opinion," she said. "For example, the next session is expected to discuss both labour and pension laws. We need to discuss how these laws will influence women and whether they will erode some of their existing rights or promote new ones. There are many legal issues -- like the right of citizenship to the children of an Egyptian mother and a non-Egyptian father -- that men will not raise. Women have to raise these issues."
Many women MPs also lack expertise in parliamentary participation. For these, the NCW will hold training sessions to acquaint them with the rules and procedures of parliament so that they can make effective use of their terms.
There are several other forthcoming elections and Tellawi is keen to point out that the NCW will play a leading role in promoting women's participation in all stages of the political process, especially in municipal and provincial councils. This is how new generations of activists and politicians are being trained. So the real challenges facing female politicians aren't just winning parliamentary elections, but effectively participating in all stages of the political process.
Related stories:
A voice of their own 19 - 25 October 2000
Ladies of the house 19 - 25 October 2000
New support for women 7 - 13 September 2000
See Elections 2000
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