25 January 2012
Members of the legal team who drafted the alternative electoral law proposed by the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace (LWPP) are in negotiations with members of the National Transitional Council (NTC) today to resolve disagreements over the Libyan electoral law.
“Our legal team has emerged from discussions with NTC representatives aimed at ensuring the full participation of women in Libya’s public life, “ said Dr. Salah El-Merghani, a member of the legal team supporting the alternative electoral law. “We have had productive negotiations with members of the NTC, but it is clear that Mustafa Abdel Jalil remains the ultimate decision maker in these matters.”
Negotiations are currently centering on three key areas:
24 January 2012
Officials from Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) have approached the legal experts who drafted the alternative electoral law proposed by the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace (LWPP), and requested their assistance in preparing revisions to the law currently slated for release on 28 January 2012.
The draft law was drafted by a group of elite Libyan legal experts including Dr. Kuni Abouda, Salah El-Merghani, Hadi Buhamra, and Ali Dou.
20 January 2012
The Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace, a movement of Libyan leaders
working with women and youth from around the country and diaspora, has
released a draft electoral law (click here for Arabic version)
that seeks to address some of the limitations of the draft election law
released in January by the National Transitional Council.
The draft law was drafted by a group of elite Libyan legal experts
including Dr. Kuni Abouda, Salah El-Merghani, Hadi Buhamra, and Ali Dou.
The Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace, along with a coalition of other civil society groups, call on all Libyans to reject the recently-issued draft electoral law, which promises only a 10 percent quota for women in the key legislative body that will create a new Libyan constitution.
To voice our strong objection, the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace is issuing this call to protest and reject the draft election law, and demand a quota of 40%, and no in circumstances less than 30%, for women in the new parliamentary body.
Such a step would be a rejection of women’s great struggle and sacrifice during the February 17 revolution, and of their current demand for full participation alongside their brothers in building a new, peaceful Libya.
Mustafa Abdul Jalil, leader of Libya's National Transitional
Council, praised the discourse around the draft law as a move towards a
Libya Women’s Platform for Peace: a movement of women organizations and leaders who aim at achieving freedom, equality, social justice, and promoting women rights to citizenship
Karama and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in cooperation with Libyan women activists organized a meeting for civil society organizations and Libyan women leaders at the Kempinski hotel in Cairo from October 7-9 2011. The meeting has resulted in formulating a preliminary vision for the establishment of the Libya Women’s Platform for Peace.
Tripoli, LIBYA – The Libya Women’s Peace Platform (LWPP), a movement of over 50 Libyan women’s leaders from all walks of life and regions of the country and the Libyan diaspora will convene in Tripoli from November 26-28, 2011 to chart the course for increased women’s political participation and peace-building in the country.
The meeting will focus on strategic planning for women’s leadership, development of communication techniques, and mapping the way forward for women’s political participation in the new political landscape in Libya, including building political constituencies of support for women.
Following Tunisia, which was the first country to hold elections following the Arab revolutions, Egypt has scheduled its initial set of parliamentary elections for the end of November. In the weeks leading up, complexities regarding the electoral system, which omits one national polling day for three separate elections culminating in January, and the new electoral law and its impact on equal representation of men and women threaten the success of the first post-Mubarak elections. In the transition from Mubarak to a new Egypt, the future of women’s inclusion, participation, freedom and security are a crucial part of defining the ideals the new Egypt will protect, advance and defend, and they remain at risk.
Last week, Tunisia made history, becoming the first country to hold elections to fill 217 seats of its new assembly following the series of revolutions sweeping the Arab region, and specifically, the early 2011 uprising that unseated long-reigning President Ben Ali from power.
SYRIA
Context: After over 7-months of protest against the Assad regime, and the death of an estimated 3,000 civilians, including 187 children, the situation in Syria remains uncertain. Earlier this month, news that members of the opposition united to form the Syrian National Council (SNC) marked the emergence of a new leadership challenging Assad’s authority. Yet dialogue remains limited between the old regime and the National Council, which refuses to discuss matters further until Assad resigns his authority.
The Think Tank for Arab Women (TTfAW), which is comprised of local, national and
international experts in women’s rights, held its 4th meeting in Cairo from October 1-3
convening 30 academics, diplomats, policymakers, journalists and activists from Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Tunisia, Sweden, and the United States.
The meeting prioritized discussion on the role of women in the Arab spring and its impact on the region in order to exchange regional and international experiences and lessons; foster coordination and cooperation; and develop strategic approaches to strengthening
women’s political participation, as voters and as candidates, and to promoting women’s
role in transitional governments and societies as peacemakers, decision-makers, and
leaders.
