Tuesday, March 01, 2011

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Women’s Council announced Monday that the group would work toward implementing a reform to impose a 30 percent quota of female MPs in the 2013 parliamentary elections. “We have remained short of implementing our aspirations, there is a long way ahead of us to change the dominant mentality,” said the qaemaqam of Metn, Marline Haddad in reference to women’s marginal presence in Parliament. Haddad spoke on behalf of caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud who was also present but preferred his statement to be read out by the qaemaqam as a gesture of solidarity with women. “The efforts put together by the civil society groups and the ministry have yielded a partnership to govern the social affairs and the protection of the society’s interests and goals,” Haddad said during the conference, which discussed women’s role in municipalities. – The Daily Star