BEIRUT: Politicians are wrangling over whether a session of
National Dialogue will convene later this month, but for women’s rights
activists, the event will be an exercise in futility if half of society remains
unrepresented.
In a letter sent to President Michel Sleiman, Hayat Arslan, the
president of the Committee for Women’s Political Empowerment, said that national
dialogue without the presence of women would be incomplete and ineffective.
“The National Dialogue table without women remains incomplete on
the national level, and if women’s issues aren’t on the table, they will be
sidelined,” she said.
“If the criterion for participating in National Dialogue is a
parliamentary bloc, with women absent from blocs of MPs and ministers, at the
least, women should be given observer status.”
In an interview last week, Sleiman called for the resumption of
National Dialogue sessions adding that the talks were crucial amid regional
unrest.
Meanwhile, civil society activists in Tripoli praised Sleiman’s
call for dialogue, warning that their city was in dire need of the
“constructive” step following recent violence.
But they urged authorities to produce a swift solution to the
case of dozens of Islamist detainees who have not been tried. The detainees
have been held without facing charges since the wake of the 2007 Nahr al-Bared
clashes between the army and Fatah al-Islam.
“The economic
and social situation in Tripoli is extremely dangerous ... and pressing issues,
such as that of the stalled case of Islamist detainees, is causing more anger,”
said a statement issued by activists and Tripoli’s Cultural League.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Jun-01/175329-women-needed-at-dialogue-activists-say.ashx#axzz1wQjup3K6
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