Vice President of the Senate and Chairman of the Royal Committee for the Modernization of the Political System, Al-Ain Samir Al-Rifai, stressed the importance of the role of women in political and economic life.
During his participation in the Conference on Women in Political Parties in the Arab Region, which began its work today in Amman, he pointed to the need to recognize that Arab and international women suffer from grave challenges, in their political, economic and social reality, reviewing the most important of these challenges, which is the small number of women occupying leadership positions. In political and economic institutions, discrimination against women in the Arab world and globally in economic institutions in terms of pay, respect for decisions and job position, as well as weak social empowerment and challenges related to gender and marginalization of the social role of women despite its great importance.
Al-Rifai said that women’s suffering is also represented in that they often do not support women, noting that in the recent parliamentary elections, female candidates received 6 percent of the vote, even though they constitute half of society.
Al-Rifai stressed the keenness of His Majesty King Abdullah II, especially in his letter to the Royal Commission for the Modernization of the Political System, to enhance the role of women and youth as one of the committee’s main tasks.
He also referred to Jordan’s keenness to empower women politically, economically and socially since its establishment, as Jordanian women have occupied the highest political and diplomatic positions, stressing that Jordanian women are a source of pride for themselves and Jordan, as is the case for Arab women as well.
He indicated that Jordan preceded many countries in granting women their political rights, and evidence of this is its presence in leadership positions, pointing out that despite this, we are still talking about empowerment.
Al-Rifai continued: “To ensure the representation of women, the electoral laws in Jordan over the past two decades have stipulated the existence of a quota for women, and because the quota alone is not sufficient, the committee was keen to strengthen and include this in clear texts in the constitution, in the laws regulating elections and parties, and in its recommendations on local governance. and reinforced it with recommendations of cultural reflection.
He added, that the final goals of the political modernization system should not support the survival of the quota, and among these goals is a society that looks at political action in a holistic view, and that all its components enjoy equal opportunities regardless of gender, and a society whose political life is devoid of the idea of ​​a quota.
Al-Rifai said, “The Arab woman has historically not been alien to leadership and political leadership, and the Arabs have known political and tribal leaders since before Islam.” The start of the independence of the Arab countries.
Al-Rifai indicated that the leadership role of Arab women still needs to be strengthened. At the level of parliamentary representation, for example, some Arab countries are still without women’s representation, and the highest Arab percentages have reached about 15 percent only, with a general average of about 4 percent, while the percentage considered by the United Nations Acceptable is 35 percent.
He called on women to believe in their role and support their female counterparts who choose to engage in public work, indicating that women should reject attempts to guardianship of their political orientation.
Al-Rifai stressed the need to modernize the societal culture by giving priority to rationality and acceptance of the other to build confidence in political and partisan work and expand societal involvement in it, pointing out that quotas and legislation will not succeed alone, and society has a great role towards women.
He called on everyone, especially women and young women, to directly engage in political work or support parties that express their aspirations and adopt issues that concern them.
Al-Rifai mentioned several points to enhance the leadership role of women, including supporting political modernization, democratic transformation, citizenship, spreading the culture of democracy, the right to difference, pluralism and acceptance of others, setting legislative frameworks to protect the rights of the weakest groups, and considering the quota as a temporary measure until the natural role of women in parties is institutionalized.
He stressed the need to establish funds to finance women’s electoral campaigns (with official and civil support) and to educate women about the importance of participation in civil society and political activity, and not to limit women’s interests in public work to women’s issues alone, pay attention to public affairs to the same extent, support women in leadership positions, and believe that comprehensive development requires the holistic participation of women. .
Al-Rifai explained that the committee paved the way for many of that, and the road still needs strong construction and a lot of work.
He said that any effort towards change and modernization, even if it is in the form of legislation, remains ink on paper if it is not accompanied by a real will and intense work by everyone to achieve it.

(Petra)