Minister: Upcoming parliamentary elections, a historic opportunity for women

Amman: Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, Haditha Al-Kharisha, said Monday that the upcoming parliamentary elections is an "unprecedented, historic opportunity" for Jordanian women to bolster their representation under the dome. For the first time, the election law allocates 18 Lower House seats for women based on the quota system, in addition to committing parties to allocate at least two seats to women from the first six seats on their lists that will contest the polls, he said during the launch of a program to promote women's participation in the ballot due to be held on September 10. Therefore, it is projected that 20 women will make it to the 20th Jordanian parliament, he told the ceremony to kick off the program, which is implemented by the Jordanian National Commission for Women in cooperation with the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs and support of UN Women Jordan and the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation. "The royal approach was to bring a qualitative leap in the political life of Jordanians during the second centennial of the state," he said, expressing hope that women will turn out in force at the ballot box and to see a real national effort by civil society institutions to support and encourage women to run and vote. Minister of Social Development, head of a ministerial committee on women's Empowerment, Wafa Bani Mustafa, stressed the importance of training programs for women running in the ballots. She said the constitutional and legislative amendments that were finalized within the political modernization process, especially the electoral and party laws, are a great opportunity for women to acquire political and legislative decision-making positions. Source: Jordan News Agency