The promotion of women in politics lies at the core of amendments to Article 62 of the constitution, Reem Leila writes Of the 34 amendments to the constitution suggested by President Hosni Mubarak, mostly regulating political and economic life, changes to Article 62 aim to increase the female representatives in parliament. The article currently states that "citizens shall have the right to vote, nominate and express their opinions in referendums according to the provisions of the law. Their participation in public life is a national duty." According to Farkhonda Hassan, secretary- general of the National Council for Women (NCW), the proposal is indicative that the political scene for women is evolving, with new mechanisms pulling the women of the country together. Hassan believes there is political, institutional and practical improvement for the involvement of women in politics. And the NCW is pushing for women's rights by guaranteeing them in the constitution. "The constitution does in fact allow for quotas, but only states that half of the parliamentary seats are reserved for workers and farmers," explained Hassan. "The same rule applies to the Shura and local councils." She believes there is a dire need to return to the quota system which allocates a certain number of parliamentary seats to women. But the quota system is criticised as being discriminatory and unconstitutional because while women are allowed to contest all parliamentary seats, men are not allowed to compete for the ones assigned to women. Supporters of the idea, however, argue that this formula allows those who are underprivileged, such as women, to have a voice and hence cannot be deemed unconstitutional. The current 1971 constitution guarantees equal rights and opportunities between men and women in all fields, whether political, social or economic. It stipulates equality before the law, without discrimination based on sex, race, language, religion or belief. Fawzia Abdel-Sattar, law professor at Cairo University, explained that women only obtained equal political rights under the 1956 Constitution, in response to campaigns by women's movements beginning in 1917. Abdel-Sattar recommended that a minor modification could be added to Article 62 enhancing the overall status of women in the political arena. "Due to the controversy surrounding the quota system, Article 62 could be adjusted to stipulate that the percentage of one gender should not exceed the other by more than 80 per cent," she suggested. "This guarantees that at least 20 per cent will be allocated to women in parliament." While the government has on the whole supported political reforms in favour of female participation, these have been limited, and women MPs are very few. Subsequently, Mona Zulficar, who is a lawyer and human rights activist, proposes that Article 62 should allocate one or two constituencies to be contested by women only. Zulficar feels that this would guarantee a reasonable percentage of women's representation in parliament. In the hierarchy of laws, the constitution occupies the top echelon; any law that violates or departs from any principle of the Constitution may be ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Constitutional Court. "Therefore, increasing women's representation in parliament and political life must be supported by the Constitution," she stated. "This is to guarantee that if the election law is amended or changed, women would not be affected." Like other activists and the NCW, Zulficar believes that Article 62 should stipulate that the percentage of women MPs should match their representation in the work force. Hassan revealed that all suggestions to amend Article 62 will be submitted to the legislative committee at the beginning of February. After debate, the final version of the article will be drafted, along with the other 33 suggested amendments. "This will be followed by a public referendum in April, because the changes can only pass if approved by the majority of the people," she added.
