The Shura Council has approved, in principle, a draft law amending some provisions of the People's Assembly (Parliament's) law No. 38 of 1972. The bill will add 32 constituencies to elect 64 female parliamentarians for two legislative seasons (10 years) or more. The Shura Council Speaker Safwat al-Sharif said: "The bill comes within the framework of President Mubarak's platform to empower women politically. Since the issuance of Law No. 201 of 1990 that enforced the individual election system, no seats have been allocated for women in the Parliament. This has negatively affected women's representation in all legislative seasons. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, women only accounted for 0.9% of the parliamentarians."
"In this context, Article 62 of the Constitution has been amended. It provides that citizens shall have the right to vote, nominate and express their opinions in referenda according to the provisions of law. Their participation in public life is a national duty. This Article regulates the right of nomination for the People's Assembly and the Shura Council, in accordance with any system. The law may combine the individual election system and the party-list system. It may also keep women's participation in the People's Assembly and the Shura Council to a minimum."
The Constitution does not provide that the amendment should be introduced to the People's Assembly and the Shura Council at the same time. The Constitution is flexible, as the amendments are left to the discretion of the legislature. This ensures an active participation for women in the legislative life on the one hand and makes a balance between the State's management evaluation and the requirements of population density on the other, he added. Mufid Shehab, Minister of Legal Affairs and Parliamentary Councils, said the law was based on Article 62 of the Constitution, which had been amended to allocate parliamentary seats for women. Article 40 was stipulating that there should be equality without any sort of discrimination between men and women. Women's participation is still low due to the conditions of our society. Therefore, the Constitution had to intervene. The number of female MPs from 1990 to the last session ranged between three and seven, in addition to the appointed female deputies. This number is in fact low in a 444-seat parliament.
According to Article 87 of the Constitution, 50% of the new 32 constituencies should be workers and farmers, Shehab added. Mohamed Ragab, the leader of the parliamentary majority, said: "The allocation of seats for women is an 'incubator' to enable women to face the historical heritage. This amendment aims to enable women to fight against men and to be up competition without the need for 'incubators' helping them in political participation."
Commenting on Ragab's statements, al-Sharif warned against talking about conflict between women and men, as the law aims to encourage women to take part in the political life and not to fight against men.
