After the announcement of the new all-male Lebanese cabinet on Monday, journalists asked MP Michel Aoun – the main winner in PM Mikati’s new government formation – about the lack of female participation. He replied with:

We did not have any women candidates to nominate , but we welcome their opinions, my house is full of women, and I am very popular among the female population.

and:

You all know that women in Lebanon need more practice and experience in the public life so that she may become qualified for parliamentary and ministerial work.

Clearly, we have a serious gender inequality & stereotyping problem. It is becoming more prominent and more exemplified in our dysfunctional political sphere that there is no room in Lebanese politics for women. People have said to me: what do you care that there are no women when all politicians are corrupt? La2, I care.  Of course I don’t want sexist, corrupt women in power any more than I want sexist, corrupt men in power either. I want good, strong women and men who care about social issues and the people’s concerns. But the current regression (illustrated below) demonstrates clearly that we not only have a problem of getting people outside of sectarian politics into the governing sphere. We also have a problem of getting women into government and parliament full stop.

Aoun’s comments – like all of his counterparts – show that the ruling elite have no awareness whatsoever of the importance of women’s political participation.  To say that there are no qualified women (out of a population of 2 million) is extremely offensive. And no, we have not forgotten the FPM’s famous appeal to women in the 2009 elections: Sois Belle et Vote.

The chart below illustrates the regression in Lebanese parliament and government from 2005 to the present.

I wonder how many election campaigns in 2013 will try to sell themselves to women.

*This post was wishful thinking*

Good morning, Lebanon! And Happy International Women’s Day! I am writing from New York city, where I have been attending sessions at the 54th Commission for the Status of Women. Rumors had been going around since last week that the Lebanese government is going to pass the amendment to the nationality law, granting women the right to pass on the Lebanese nationality to their children and husbands. And the rumors turned out to be true! They are passing the law today!!

Taken from Nationality Campaign's Blog

What a coincidence, just yesterday I attended a panel by WLP with two prominent Arab feminists (Amal Abdel Hadi from Egypt and Lina Abou Habib from Lebanon) who talked about the regional campaign to lift CEDAW reservations. And now our long-awaited dream is finally here:

A Lebanese woman is now a full Lebanese citizen: she can give the Lebanese nationality to her husband and to her son. Congratulations on a right long overdue!

It is said that Minister Mona Afeiche will be announcing this wonderful piece of news later today, March 8, as the world celebrates 100 years since the idea of International Women’s Day was born. What a happy occasion for all Lebanese women to celebrate!

Of course we were all concerned that the Lebanese government would be racist and exclude Palestinians from this human right, but, indeed, they have lived up to their duties and have not excluded anyone. Excellent job, 7oukoumitna! Good for you! Finally, ONE THING the Lebanese government has done that has made me proud. Bravo finally acknowledging that women are human beings too and that they deserve the same rights as men. Bravo for rising above your pettiness and stupid out-of-date political debates. Bravo Lebanon!

I don’t have much information to share at this point, but those of you in Lebanon should contact:

• Ministry of Social Affairs +961-1-612870
• Ministry of Finance (just cos Raya Haffar Al Hassan is a woman and we must congratulate her) +961-1-642758
• Ministry of Interior (because Ziad Baroud has been backing us up for a long time and we must thank him) +961-1-754200
• Prime Minister (if you want to thank Saad Hariri himself) +961-1-746800

Looking forward to reading the papers and analysis about this tomorrow. And for today, happy women’s day all the way from a freezing United Nations.

Nayla Mouawad & Solange Gemayel. I don’t know what to comment, whether to laugh of to cry, but this video is a fine example of why it is more important to have feminists in parliament than it is to have women. But I want to still say that we need women to be represented – but not this bad a representation!