Gulf | Yemen

Women's group flays fatwa against rights

The Yemen Women's Union has demanded Parliament condemn a recent religious fatwa banning women from political participation and running for seats in parliament.

  • By Nasser Arrabyee, Correspondent
  • Published: 00:05 July 21, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • A meeting with the speaker of parliament and a number of Members of Parliament (MPs) to discuss the issue was scheduled to take place on Sunday in Sana'a but was postponed because of the speaker's other commitments.
  • Image Credit: Adam Flinter/Gulf News

Sana'a: The Yemen Women's Union has demanded Parliament condemn a recent religious fatwa banning women from political participation and running for seats in parliament.

"We want parliament to explicitly condemn such a fatwa because it is a confiscation of personal and public freedom," Ramziah Al Eryani, chairperson of the Yemen Women Union, told Gulf News.

Al Eryani said a meeting with the speaker of parliament and a number of Members of Parliament (MPs) to discuss the issue was scheduled to take place on Sunday but was postponed because of the speaker's other commitments.

Strong attack

We agreed the meeting is going to be held this week, she said.

"We want to tell them that this is completely against democracy, against human rights, against civil society and against the multiparty system," she said.

The fatwa, issued by a number of religious scholars on July 16, says it is haram (forbidden) for women to be MPs.

The fatwa was considered as a strong attack on a controversial proposal by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to allocate 15 per cent of parliamentary seats for women in the upcoming elections in April 2009.

"This fatwa is against Islam, against equality between men and women stipulated by the Quran," Al Eryani said.

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