RABIA XERIS

Algeria - In light of recent electoral reforms and the implementation of the principle of gender parity in electoral lists, Movement of Society for Peace (MSP) parliamentarian Farida Ghamra is going to organize a parliamentary day to highlight Algerian women's political participation, particularly their presence in elected councils.

In light of the results of the assembly polls held in June 2021 and the local elections to reinstate municipal and state councils held last November, Farida Ghamra, a member of the People's National Assembly (Lower Chamber of the Algerian parliament), said that seminars and meetings on women's political participation will be held on this parliamentary day.

Despite the adoption of a new election law based on the principle of gender equality, she noted that this issue has been able to gain traction in recent years, owing to a decrease in the number of women serving on elected councils, which has raised several questions about the reasons for this decline.

She also said that the goal of this parliamentary day is to address this issue and implement mechanisms and rules to boost women's political status.

She believes that the issue is far larger than the lack of legislation or the ratification of international recommendations, agreements, and treaties and that it is limited to the prevalent conventional mentality and mindsets that dominate Arab societal structures.

"Even though we strongly appreciate the open list system mechanism in the polls of National People's Assembly members," Farida Ghamra said, “since it allows the voters to choose candidates from the same list according to his or her preference. The closed list system, on the other hand, forces voters to choose a list based on the parties' decisions. However, this approach sheds an unfavorable light on women's participation in the Algerian parliament and other elected bodies. For a variety of reasons, including patriarchal culture and the preconceived image of women as incapable of assuming leadership roles like men, women are unable to secure a sufficient number of seats. There is also a sizable group of people, particularly men, who are opposed to women making decisions about their lives." 

She emphasized that procedures outlined in the Algerian constitution and law, such as 50/50, which aims to achieve a true representation of women in all official state institutions, are a means allowing women to ascend to decision-making positions, enhancing their performance image, and break stereotypes.

Regarding women's political participation in politics, Ghamra stated, "Today we must know that establishing equality and providing an opportunity for everyone, without any discrimination between the sexes, with the need to take into account the privacy of women is a cornerstone of democracy."

She emphasized the importance of overcoming the various and different barriers against women's political participation, inextricably related to society. “Algerian social and political upbringing believes political women are incapable of participating in politics and even in higher positions because they are inferior to men.”