According to Minister of State for Women’s Affairs Jean Oghassabian, Lebanon is campaigning to get at least five times more women elected to parliament this spring in its first vote in nearly 10 years.
BEIRUT: Lebanon saw a record number of women submit their candidacies in the upcoming parliamentary elections, with President Michel Aoun echoing Wednesday his support to the 111 hopefuls.
As International Women’s Day approaches, Aoun said he hopes that “the largest number of women get elected,” congratulating them at the conclusion of the Cabinet session.
According to Minister of State for Women’s Affairs Jean Oghassabian, Lebanon is campaigning to get at least five times more women elected to parliament this spring in its first vote in nearly 10 years.
There are only four women in the outgoing parliament elected in 2009, a flimsy 3 percent of its 128 lawmakers. It was a drop from 2005, when six women were elected. Since 2004, there have been one or at most two posts for women in government.
Despite a relatively free press, diverse religious groups and women in prominent positions in the business world and the media, Lebanon ranks surprisingly low when it comes to female representation in politics, and politicians have failed to act on a movement to institute a quota for women in parliament — With AP