The ministry of interior, represented by the director of the political and refugee affairs, Faten Yunes, issued this week the forms for candidates to the parliamentary by-elections in Tripoli 2019 which included a new gender identification male/female category. The latter will be added to the applications for candidacy to the membership of any representative council or position at the local and national levels. In a statement released yesterday, the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) commended the interior’s initiative. It noted that in 2017, the commission demanded the inclusion of the gender category to prevent confusing between sexes, and to facilitate statistics concerning participation of Lebanese women in the political life and decision making. (Al Mustaqbal, March 27, 2019)