[News] Lebanon's elections...the high rate of women's participation

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https://www.msn.com/ar-ae/news/middleeast/انتخابات-لبنان-ارتفاع-نسبة-مشاركة-النساء/ar-AAW4Qpc?li=BB1ebCnc

 

 

 

Nominations for the parliamentary elections in Lebanon, to be held on May 15, have closed for 1,043 male and female candidates, an increase of 67 candidates from the parliamentary elections in 2018.
The total number of candidates reached 1043, including 155 female candidates, which constitutes 15 percent of the total number of candidates.

Randa Yasser, the international consultant on gender issues and women's affairs in Lebanon, told Sky News Arabia that "it is remarkable that women's candidacy this year is characterized by a 37 percent increase compared to the previous elections in 2018."

Yasir added, "The lists nominated for this year amounted to 103 lists, 65 of which include women. It is also remarkable that the increase in the number of women selected in the electoral lists by parties outside the current authority, noting that some parties currently in power have nominated Quite a few women. "

Yasir considered that this "is not sufficient for a high percentage of women's representation in the Lebanese Parliament, especially since according to the current election law and the mentality of a voter who belongs to a political party, regardless of the name promoted by the list, whether it is a woman or not, these parties will elect the list in full." .

She added, "In the event of a violation of the regulations, there may be an opportunity for women to reach, but they do not constitute more than 30% of the list, and this is not guaranteed, especially if the order of the names that fall into these lists is not topped by women or is not published in parallel between men and women." .

The expert, Yasir, specified that the presence of women in the lists does not include all electoral districts in the country, and explained that “the percentage of their presence is high in the districts of Beirut II and the Second Bekaa, which reached 27 percent, while it reached 24 percent in districts such as Beirut First District, and the third districts of Bekaa and Jabal remained Lebanon, the North, is the first and second least representative of women, and all of them have between 6 and 7 percent of women.

Regarding the women's electoral programs, she said, "If we go towards the content of their electoral programs, we find it advanced, especially the political stances related to the current situation and the hope for change with the presence of women matched by the presence of men who believe in the participation and presence of women."

She concluded, "It is necessary for women to enter Parliament in order to break the stereotype that women do not engage in politics. Through the various women's programs, we find candidates between security, politics, the economy and corruption files a glimmer of hope, and it is desirable that all the candidates are on the political level that carries the change framework." .

It is noteworthy that Lebanon is preparing for the parliamentary elections in mid-May, and the United Nations program is preparing with it all the available preparations for the parliamentary elections in Lebanon, including the registration of candidates, the provision of offices and staff, the registration system and stationery.

The program has secured 18,000 insulators for polling pens, which will number in Lebanon to 7,000 pens in all constituencies. It also secured 25,000 boxes of secret ink used on the day of voting, in addition to securing all logistics, stationery and publications used on the day of voting.