The Revolution of 25 January 2011 opened the doors of hope for a new future of Egypt with social justice and equal rights for women. In particular women’s participation in the revolution impressed the world and was praised by everyone. Also in the recent parliamentary elections, women participated in an unprecedented number. 984 female candidates ran for a seat in the
new parliament; 633 women were nominated in the party-lists and 351 ran as individual candidates.
In the absence of legal procedures, including the abolition of the quota system, which ensure fair and equal representation all sectors of society, including women, the result were disappointing, as expected. Only 9 women from party lists and no female individual candidate were elected and
additionally, two women were appointed. Hence, only 11 women have won a seat in the People’s Assembly out of the total 508 seats; Women represent 2% of all members. This number reminds us about the results of the parliamentary election of 2000, when 7 women were elected and 4 appointed, reaching a total number of 11 women.
| No | Name | Affiliation of Parties | Governoratre & District | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Margret A’azer | Waffed | Cairo-Second | Labor |
| 2 | Hanan Sa’ad Abu El Ghaet Hassan | Waffed | Damietta | Labor |
| 3 | Sana’a Ahmed Gamal El-Dein | The Egyptian Bloc( The Egyptian Social Democrats) | Asyuit – Second | Labor |
| 4 | Huda Mohamed Anwar Abdel Rahman Ghanaya | The Freedom & Justice | Qalubaya – First | Professionalism |
| 5 | Reda Abdallah Mohamad | The Freedom & Justice | Sharqaya – First | Professionalism |
| 6 | Azza Mohamad Ibrahim El-Garaf | The Freedom & Justice | Giza – Second | Farmer |
| 7 | Magda Hassan El-Newashy | Waffed | Ismalaia | Labor |
| 8 | Fada Salem Ebaid Allah Salem | The Reform & Development | South Sinai | Professionalism |
| 9 | Seham Abdel Lattef Mohamed El-Yamani | The Freedom & Justice | Daqahlaya – First | Labor |
| 10 | Suzi Adli Nashed | Appointed | ||
| 11 | Maryan Malak Kamal | Appointed |
It seems that time has not just time stopped but the time has gone backwards regarding women’s situation in Egypt. Internationally, Egypt occupies a low rank regarding women’s parliamentary representation. Due to the low percentage of women in parliament in Egypt, 2% compared to a
global average of 18 % and 30% in leading democracies, Egypt is ranked 130 among 188 countries.
Although the parliament of the revolution does not represent women justly, there is still hope that the this parliament will care about Egyptian women’s participation and pay attention to women’s concerns and their equal rights. Therefore, ECWR demands the Legislative Council to take action to the ensure women represent at least 30 % of members in all elected councils in Egypt.
