Posted on 01/30/2009 5:35:53 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
In the overwhelmingly male arena that is Iraqi politics, it was a striking sight. A local sports ground, an election rally and a candidate - a female candidate.
Zahra Hamza Ali is upbeat about her chances. In private interviews she speaks of speeding up dormant reconstruction projects in Basra province, of stability and security, but not to the exclusively male audience, who still insist that women in public life are seen and not heard.
The men, about 3,000 of them, rapturously waved vibrant Shia Islamic and political flags in the main Basra sports arena as they waited for the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, this week. Fathers wheeled in children maimed during years of war in the plaintive hope they would win an audience with the national leader during a rare visit to town. They left disappointed. But Hamza believes politics in Iraq is changing.
"We hope the political process leads to stability," she said. "Last year we started to feel safe in Basra and there is a better atmosphere here. We can even start to see some rebuilding."
Hamza is hardly a rare female candidate entering the tumult of Iraq's local elections today. Thanks to laws governing Iraq's provincial elections, women are to make up 30% of candidates - almost 4,000 out of 14,000 running for office in 14 of the 18 provinces holding polls.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
*waiting for NOW to reverse their position on Iraq*
I’m always ready to embrace women — But I don’t always get away with it. :o)
Happier women make better partners. Maybe these chauvinistic pigs will get it one day!
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