CAIRO: When Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) held a Facebook poll to see who the frontrunner for the presidency would be in April, they left off one candidate: Bothaina Kamel. In Egypt's male-dominated political sphere it is understandable, even accepted. Women in politics are looked down upon and few Egyptians would seriously consider voting for the talk show host turned presidential candidate. When Kamel announced on the micro-blogging website Twitter earlier this year that she intended to run in the next presidential campaign, nobody took notice. Bikyamasr.com's Manar Ammar broke the story to little fanfare. In fact, it wasn't until Kamel took to the streets and began voicing her platform of social justice that the media began to take her candidacy seriously. It is the unfortunate state of women in Egyptian society, but at least now, her voice is being heard, even as the vast majority of the country shuns even the idea of a woman in power. Egypt has long struggled with women in politics. Following the January 25 revolution, many believed it could mark the renaissance for women's rights in a country that has done little to tackle the widespread problem of sexual harassment and the lack of women's empowerment. Instead, the country has seen a reversal of the few gains made in recent years. The military has abandoned a women's quota in parliament, meaning that come November, the likelihood of have a female MP is growing slimmer and slimmer. The Egyptian Center for Women's Rights in late July attempted to push the interim government and the ruling SCAF to install female governors. They were rebuked, with the government citing “security concerns” and placing all men in the country's governorates. When the military developed a constitution committee to develop changes to Egypt's constitution, there were no women on the panel, despite female lawyers and politicians in the country. Among the pro-change protesters, women's rights have been silenced. They argue that to push for women's rights would be a single-issue that does not embrace the overall goal of the revolution. Even some women agree, saying that the country needs universal human rights and must avoid the “discriminatory idea of women's rights as a unique goal.” But in a society where women have had little ability to enter politics, or have their voices heard, and live on a daily basis with the comments, groping and assaults, some form of affirmative action is needed. Without it, women could be faced with even more disadvantages as the men take hold of Egypt's future. In comes Bothaina Kamel, arguably the only visible female leader in current Egypt. For many, she isn't qualified to be president. Then again, in a country ruled for over half a century by dictators, who is qualified? There are viable candidates in the country, Mohamed ElBaradei, the former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief and darling of the Western media, former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, former Muslim Brotherhood top official Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and a handful of others, but none of them have done more than talk. Kamel, however has taken her message of social justice into the streets, rural areas and to the people themselves in a move reminiscent of American President Barack Obama's grassroots mobilization that set him on a path to the White House in 2008. She is doing more than the other candidates combined. Unfortunately it isn't translating into larger support. Her Facebook fan page has roughly 1,000 supporters, while ElBaradei's 250,000. Comments on articles in the Arabic press have been virulently antagonistic, with many claiming the “role of a woman is in the house” and “a woman can never be president according to Islam.” It hasn't stopped Kamel from pursuing her campaign and her belief in a better Egypt. It is sad that not more women are being galvanized by her efforts. The conservatism that has seeped into Egypt over the past two decades has taken its toll, with many of the country's female population seemingly having bought into the idea that Islam forbids women in power positions. On Friday July 29, some one million conservative Salafists converged on Cairo in a show of force, calling on Egypt to be an Islamic state. Among them were women, fully veiled and spouting the rhetoric of a conservative Egypt. It struck fear in the dwindling pro-change supporters, who are hopeful that a future democratic Egypt is mult-faceted and open. “Women in this country have been forced to watch from the sidelines for so long that it is hard to get them moving and getting involved in politics,” Mona Makram Ebeid, a former MP – appointed as part of the quota system in the 1990s – told me a year before the revolution. She added, however, that Egyptian women are pushing toward joining social activity and “this is where their power lies.” Kamel obviously understands this and has taken her message outside Cairo. She has earned the support and backing of a number of online activists and although the government and her opponents don't fear her, it is her candidacy that still brings hope to a country that appears broken and fractured. For women, it has been that way for years. At least one person is speaking out for all of Egypt, and it just happens to be a woman. BM
