Tunisia defers debate on gender equality in inheritance

In the aftermath of the Tunisian President, Beji Caid Essebsi’s call for amendment of inheritance law to ensure gender equality and the rift it forged with Islamists, (https://goo.gl/fh57Ck), the State deferred the debate on this legislation until after the municipal elections set for this coming May. On the subject, the President of the Committee for Individual Freedoms at the Tunisian Parliament, prominent feminist activist, MP Boushra Balhaj Hamida, disclosed that the Committee presented Essebsi with the proposed reforms in keeping with the Constitution and international human rights standards. However, the final report, Ben Hamida announced after meeting with the President, will be postponed until next June following the municipal elections, noting that the committee, will in the meantime, broaden its consultations to gain more support and to avoid political polarization over said proposal. (Al Hayat, February 21, 2018)


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