New Electoral Law Guarantees 40 Libyan Women Legislators
The Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace (LWPP) welcomes the passage of a new electoral law, which guarantees women at least 40 seats on the 200-member Constituent Assembly that will draft the country’s new constitution.
Libya’s National Transitional Council adopted the law at 11PM on Wednesday February 8th after a month-long campaign led by the LWPP and other civil society groups forced the NTC to delay and then scrap an initial, more restrictive draft law put forward by the council.
As soon as the electoral law was announced, the LWPP co-organized protests and commissioned the drafting of an alternative electoral law that contained a range of provisions to ensure women’s representation and other changes. The finalized text relies heavily on language of the LWPP law, which was drafted by a team of leading Libyan legal experts.
“It hasn’t been an easy battle, but we thank the legal team, especially Saleh El-Merghani, Dr Koni Abuda, Ali Dawi, Alhadi Abu Hamra and all the civil society members and youth groups who joined protests in public squares all around Libya in favor of a more equitable and inclusive electoral law,” said Zahra’ Langhi of the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace.
http://feb17.info/news/new-electoral-law-guarantees-40-libyan-women-legislators/
NOTE
There have been 39 women in the United States Senate since the establishment of that body in 1789. The first woman served in 1922, but women were first elected in number in 1992. As of 2011, 17 of the 100 senators are women. Thirteen of the women who have served were appointed; seven of those were appointed to succeed their deceased husbands.
