Iraqi elections, but where are the women?
Exclusive
17 April, by Sawsan Al-Assaf
Iraqi
women have been well known for their pioneering role in Iraqi society
since the 1930s. They became members of political parties (especially
the Iraqi Communist Party), actresses, singers, newscasters and lawyers.
Their position was boosted when the first Iraqi (and Arab) woman was
appointed minister in 1959, a year after the revolution that overthrew
the monarchy. In 1967 a new constitution gave women equal voting rights.
Between 1980 and 2003, under the Baathist regime, there were five
parliamentary elections for the National Assembly, in which the
percentage of women in the Assembly varied between 6.5% and 13%. However
since they were all Baathists, they followed the instructions of their
party.
Following the American occupation of Iraq in 2003, the US civilian governor Paul Bremer introduced a law fixing women’s participation in parliament at 25%. In the country’s first governing council in 2003, appointed by Bremer, three women were chosen, out of 25; but their selection was made on sectarian and ethnic background, not merit. Iraq’s permanent constitution, approved in 2005, fixed the percentage of women MPs at 25% (paragraph 5, article 49). Thus in the first election of 2005, 73 women gained seats out of 275 (26.5%).
In the 2010 elections there were 82 women MPs out of 325. Yet only four women candidates got enough votes (30,000) to actually win their seats: the rest were appointed as part of the 25% quota (some appointees only won around 100 votes). This quota did not apply to the cabinet where numbers varied according to the wishes of the prime minister: one woman out of 25 male ministers (2003), six out of 31 (2004), six out of 36 (2005), four out of 37 (2006); that dropped to only two out of 42 in the present (2010) cabinet.
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Following the American occupation of Iraq in 2003, the US civilian governor Paul Bremer introduced a law fixing women’s participation in parliament at 25%. In the country’s first governing council in 2003, appointed by Bremer, three women were chosen, out of 25; but their selection was made on sectarian and ethnic background, not merit. Iraq’s permanent constitution, approved in 2005, fixed the percentage of women MPs at 25% (paragraph 5, article 49). Thus in the first election of 2005, 73 women gained seats out of 275 (26.5%).
In the 2010 elections there were 82 women MPs out of 325. Yet only four women candidates got enough votes (30,000) to actually win their seats: the rest were appointed as part of the 25% quota (some appointees only won around 100 votes). This quota did not apply to the cabinet where numbers varied according to the wishes of the prime minister: one woman out of 25 male ministers (2003), six out of 31 (2004), six out of 36 (2005), four out of 37 (2006); that dropped to only two out of 42 in the present (2010) cabinet.
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