Tunisia – Feminist organizations denounce decree of new electoral law

Location: the capital, Tunis, Tunisia

Language: Arabic

Duration: 00:02:44

Sound: natural

Source: A24 in Tunisia

Restrictions: A24 subscribers

Date 10/19/2022

Storyline:

The new electoral law in Tunisia raises several questions about women’s participation and representation in next parliament, as specialists believe women’s presence will be low if not non-existent, stating that the new law excludes women.

Feminist activists in Tunisia continue their demonstration against the decree of the new electoral law. Female activists in feminist civil society today considered during a critical reading of the law, that it discriminates against women, denies women’s rights and prejudices equality among citizens.

Dozens of women demonstrated earlier outside the electoral commission to denounce this decree.

Shotlist:

– Soundbite (Sarah Al-Madini – Policy analyst at Aswat Nissa):

“We are a feminist movement that represents the voices of women. We work in cooperation with other organizations, such as Mourakiboun and Al Bawsala. The decree is not legally permissible, because the Presidency of the Republic signed on it without any participatory or dialogue. The decree only serves the Presidency of the Republic.”

– Soundbite (Hana bin Abda – Feminist legal researcher):

“Decree 55 of 2022 amending the electoral law establishes inequality between male and female citizens, with regards to naturalized Tunisians who have obtained Tunisian citizenship but do not have the right to run for election, as the decree assumes that you have a Tunisian parent, which establishes a second degree of citizenship. There are also Tunisians holding other nationalities and residing in Tunisia who do not have the right to run for election in constituencies in Tunisia. We find this weird because if the person resides in Tunisia and has Tunisian citizenship, they should be allowed to run for election through the constituency where they reside.”