Empowering women remains just an idea until it is translated into a fact in real life. But how can this be achieved given the obstacles we have to overcome?

First: Legally: By allowing women better parliamentary representation to exercise their legislative and monitoring role, we would be giving them access to leading positions in the various fields. It becomes therefore essential for us to choose a means that would best guarantee a minimum number of parliamentary seats for them to occupy.

Globally speaking, world countries have handled this issue in different ways:

• Some adopt a quota system, where the Constitution assigns a percentage of seats to women; this system is, however, unconstitutional as it contradicts with the principle of equality between individual citizens by discriminating in favor of one group.

• Other countries assign certain seats only for women contesters (women constituencies).

• There is also the proportional representation system where women are assigned a numerical order.

In Egypt, Law No 41 for 1979 was promulgated assigning a minimum of 30 seats to women in Parliament. Law No. 114 for 1983 raised the figure to 31. In 1986, however, Law No. 188 ruled out women-allotted seats as unconstitutional.

Second: Parliamentary representation: Should the legal problem be solved, how could the parties, all parties, be coaxed into choosing women to run as their candidates? This can be achieved through:

• Incentives: By introducing incentives to the parties which name women for candidacy.

• By enacting a law which makes it imperative for a party to name women as candidates.

Third: Can family duties be an obstacle to women’s involvement in politics?

Key issues

• How do we guarantee a minimum number of seats for women in Parliament?

• What can political parties do to support women candidates financially, morally and campaigning-wise?

• Why do women refrain from standing up as candidates? Is it because of the general political atmosphere or because of male practices?

• Why do women give their vote to men? Is it because of the cultural atmosphere, which looks on women as inferior creatures unable to shoulder responsibility?

• Why are women more active in NGOs than in political life?

• How much an obstacle do family and husband stand impeding women’s political ambitions?