After gaining the right to vote and participate in elections in 1952, one would assume that more female politicians would be taking part in Lebanon's administrative scene. Lebanese women won the right to participate in politics 19 years before those in Switzerland, a neutral European country. But what have they done with this? The June elections are just around the corner and, while the men continue to argue over the proposed electoral draft law, women in the country are attempting to take a stand. The Coalition for Women in Parliament 2013 is trying to put pressure on lawmakers to approve a 30 percent quota for women, making it a little bit easier for them to be a part of parliament. The reason why women are not highly involved is a slightly more complicated issue than merely the existence of laws that bar women from participating. It is in fact a matter of how society weighs in. Many women in Lebanon abstain from taking part as a result of the widespread political culture in Lebanon that relegates women to the status of second-class citizens. Paul Salem, the Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said that Lebanese democracy has failed to strengthen political life in the country and has not been able to take the required steps to modernize social life. “The women's movement has not been very successful because we are up against a political body that is male-dominated, so we're always confronting the political system rather than becoming part of it,” Nadine Mouawad, head of Nasawiya, a feminist collective in Lebanon, said. Lebanese women do enjoy equal civil rights, but the persistence of traditional attitudes regarding the role of women means that most political organizations, of which they are a part, exist as subordinate branches of the political parties. In some cases they can even be seen as NGOs. Mouawad added that as long as women do not pose a threat to Lebanon's political system, the government and the country will not take them seriously. Since its independence from France in 1943, the political structure in the country has been dominated by men and the same powerful family names, which were around in the 1950s and 1960s. The women who have managed to break into the political spectrum hold their positions because of some sort of affiliation with those elite families, a helping hand from fathers, brothers or even husbands. Women's organizations may have been lobbying for years to introduce female quotas for MPs, but in a country that remains divided along sectarian lines, it is difficult. Linda Matar, a prominent activist, spoke to The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon and said, “the problem is in the sectarian system, the heads of sects have the grip on all decisions.” After Lebanon's civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 1990, political parties have continued to compete in order to preserve narrow sectarian interests. In such a system, women are less likely to be nominated or elected. This inevitably discourages women from seeking office. “We are calling for partnership and just equality with men, and we believe having a share in both parliament and the cabinet would be the first step in turning women into decision-makers,” Olfat Al-Sabeh, an activist, also told The Daily Star. At least 50 women attempted to take a stand this week and are seeking political office in this year's upcoming parliamentary poll. Women need to be more persistent, aggressive and willing to run for election until they can manage to achieve their goal and set the trend for others to follow. Think about it, if one woman can make a noise, how much noise can 50 women make? — Sophie Ghaziri is a Shift Editor at Al Arabiya English. Follow her on Twitter @sophieghaziri
