National Gathering to Abolish Discrimination Against Women calls for a contemporary electoral law

The National Gathering to Abolish Discrimination Against Women considered in a statement issued yesterday that the Lebanese Parliament’s return to the 1960 Electoral Law under numerous pretexts is a crime against the democratic system and could provoke further unwanted conflicts in the Lebanese society. The statement stressed that laying the grounds for a better future necessitates the building of a civil and democratic state that is immune to instabilities outsides its borders. This, the statement went on to say, can only be achieved through a contemporary electoral law that readdresses the current ill representation in political decision-making positions. In its note on the recent municipal elections, the statement mentioned that the outcomes of above elections in many areas “have reflected a general eagerness for change, as well as an actual progress by Lebanese women in nominating themselves to senior mayoral and municipal positions.” The Gathering pressed the need for modifying the present municipal legislation so as to observe the following elements: proportional representation, a single electoral constituency for all of Lebanon, women’s quota representation, and the lowering of the voting age. The statement closed by reiterating the key causes the Gathering has been struggling to achieve since 1999, notably, the Nationality Law and the Unified Civil Code of Personal Status, calling on partner organizations to join forces to this end. (An Nahar, June 22, 2016)