Will the quota of women's parliamentary seats achieve progress in women's rights?

[size=52]Will the quota of women's parliamentary seats achieve progress in women's rights?[/size]

[size=45]Translation/ Hamed Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]Iraqi officials indicated in their statements after the results of the October 10 elections that "women achieved a great historic victory in Iraq's early parliamentary elections." Where 97 female candidates won membership in a parliament consisting of 329 seats, women constitute 29.4% of the number of parliament members. This means that the quota for women has increased by 14 seats over the quota in the Iraqi election laws, which constitutes 25% of the number of seats, or the equivalent of 83 female parliamentarians.[/size]
[size=45]The indicator that indicates support for female candidates is that 57 female candidates will enter the parliament based on the votes they have obtained instead of the quota system for women. Nevertheless, they are expected to face problems within the political arena.[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the electoral system of Iraq has provided more space for women candidates to participate in the political field, especially if this is compared with other Arab parliaments and even at the global level, where the proportion of women in the Iraqi parliament now constitutes 29.4%, while the proportion in the Iraqi parliament Representatives of the United States 27.4%, 12% of the Jordanian parliament, and 23% of the Moroccan parliament.[/size]
[size=45]According to the information of the Inter-Parliamentary Union International Observatory of parliaments around the world, the level of women's representation in the Iraqi parliament is higher than the internationally recognized average of 24.5%. These numbers indicate that the future of democracy in Iraq may become more optimistic and progressive.[/size]
[size=45]The economic crisis and rampant corruption along with the failure of the government administration to provide basic services to citizens led to the outbreak of the October 2019 uprising, which is one of the largest protests by civil society gatherings in the modern history of Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]“Young people in the protest movement interacted well with the feminist component, and they thought they had a lot to offer,” Geneva Abdo, a fellow at the Gulf Countries Institute in Washington, told New Arab. And because the protests carried a secular character, this did not constitute an obstacle for the feminist element to participate in the political sphere.[/size]
[size=45]Abdo says, although the women candidates enjoyed wide popular support in the October 10 elections, there are still deep-rooted challenges. She asserts, "The Iraqi women have proven that they are enthusiastic and bold and participated in amending laws that gave women more rights, especially with regard to the status law. Personal". "But without any doubt, women will face gender-based challenges, intimidation and harassment, especially from hard-line parliamentarians," she added.[/size]
[size=45]Some of the problems faced by Iraqi society, such as domestic violence or discrimination in the workplace, and the lack of professional opportunities and supporters of the equality law legislation, are matters that are understood by the female component of Parliament, which may lead to making room for the protection of women's rights in society.[/size]
[size=45]For her part, former member of Parliament, Shurooq Al-Abayji, said, “The women’s quota should be used to highlight the role of Iraqi women in parliamentary and political activity, and be effective in enhancing their role, but unfortunately we did not see any parliamentary women’s activity in the previous session that contributed to enhancing the activity of women in parliament. Women are at the political level, and the presence of women was limited to completing parliamentary seats.”[/size]
[size=45]In addition, women often do not hold key government positions. In major ministries such as the Ministry of Oil, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Interior, there are no feminist elements or senior positions in them. Even in the main parliamentary committees such as the Defense and Security Committees, there are no feminist elements.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Abayji added, “The women’s quota guarantees them a 25% presence in Parliament. This is something that must be preserved, but this must create competition over the specified quota ceiling, so that female candidates who receive more votes than men can compete for parliamentary seats regardless regardless of the quota.[/size]
[size=45]Another problem for female parliamentarians in Iraq is how the political parties will deal with their female parliament representatives through quotas. According to the law, the women's quota is 25%, but political parties rarely nominate independent feminist elements on their lists, in order to ensure that female candidates follow the provisions of those parties. As a result, out of a total of 951 female candidates for the October 10 elections, the percentage of independent female candidates constituted 16.8%.[/size]
[size=45]Ayat Al Mudhaffar, a spokeswoman for the Victory Coalition, said, “The women of Iraq still face many challenges in trying to enter the political arena in general, and in the elections in particular, but despite these challenges, women must impose their presence and present and defend their electoral platform in front of voters and work. seriously to achieve it.”[/size]
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