Parliament Elections 2009 #2

Reiterating a previous position I've taken on this blog, it is with despair and dismay that I continue to follow the parliamentary elections in Lebanon.

This blog post will touch on the subject of women in Lebanese politics, or more accurately, lack of women in Lebanese politics.
And since it is election season in Lebanon, let's start with the parliament.

Currently there are only 6 women in the parliament, out of a total of 128 MPs.
That is barely 5%, not even.

Strida Geagea
Bahiya Hariri
Gilbertte Zwein
Solange Gemayel
Ghinwa Galoul
Nayla Mouawad

There are actually more men with the first name of Mohammad (9 I believe) than there are women in parliament.

And with elections coming up, only 12 candidates are women, and they are not expected to win. Maybe just a handful, 4-6, might actually make it. Heck, even if they all win, that's still not 10%, far below what it should be!

Along the lines of this post, watch the following Al Jazeera video that talks about the subject.
A ridiculous claim by none other than Paul Salem from the Carnegie Institute attributes this lack of women in Lebanese politics to their "lifestyle" and "occupation with driving nice cars, having good jobs and having a good time" rather than getting busy with politics. To add insult to injury, the reporter in the clip calls him an "expert".

Ya, ok.
Sure thing buddy.
I'll make sure to solicit his opinion next time I need an "expert" to pontificate on the subject.

No woman has ever come close to being nominated prime minister in Lebanon.
As far as I know, we've only had a few female ministers. The most we've ever had in one cabinet was a whopping two!
As far as the presidency is concerned, I can't recall anyone other than Nayla Mouawad expressing concern and intent to become president, and she wasn't even close to being considered a serious candidate by anyone.

We need more women in politics. Lebanon severely lacks behind when it comes to that issue.

BG