As soon as electoral tickets for October’s elections were revealed recently, it became clear that advocates of equality in the Constituent Assembly only extolled the virtues of equality to promote their parties. Women have become mere names to be added to vacant spots on their lists. 

As soon as electoral tickets for October’s elections were revealed recently, it became clear that advocates of equality in the Constituent Assembly only extolled the virtues of equality to promote their parties. Women have become mere names to be added to vacant spots on their lists. 

Among the 33 tickets for all electoral districts, the most pro-equality parties nominated only 11 women, which was the case of the Union for Tunisia—composed of moderate leftist parties such as the Democratic Path, the National Action Party and some independents— while the Popular Front (radical left) nominated only four women.

The Nidaa Touness Party, which considers itself the heir of Bourguiba thought— the advocate of women’s freedom and principles of equality— nominated only three women.

A refusal to share

Horizontal sharing, or the condition of equal representation of women in the parliament, already went through a fierce war in January of this year when Ennahda refused to ratify a constitutional clause that said at least one-third of electoral tickets should be represented by women. 

“This is because other parties will not be able to fulfill this condition,” Ennahda said, justifying its position. This provoked and angered other parties such as Nidaa Tounes, the Popular Front, the Takatol, and other secular parties who advocated for women’s equality as one of their main causes. 

Rabiaa Najlaoui, an MP representing Kasserine who has not been nominated for the forthcoming legislative elections, told Correspondents: “This has been thoroughly discussed but electoral considerations were stronger than commitment to the women’s cause.” 

Najlaoui, who refused to have her name put fourth on the list –meaning that she would never return to the parliament—did not hide her feelings of disappointment about the male dominated political scene.  She told Correspondents that she has contributed to the imposition of the horizontal sharing system, without which the presence of women in elected councils would have been impossible. 

The dearth of women

There are many hypotheses explaining the absence of women at the top of electoral tickets. First, political parties that claim they are struggling to preserve the rights acquired by Tunisian women and to develop these rights do not really believe in the slogans they raise. The role of women in these parties is nothing more than a decorative role in the on-going competition between the different political parties.

As a result, leaders of political parties have chosen to nominate males who have the capital, who are known in their areas and who are capable, through their network of relations, to attract voters. 

It seems that the heated battle, which the Tunisian women have seen on their TV screens between the Ennahda party, which refuses to legalize women’s representation as heads of lists and the “modernists” who declared themselves as fierce advocates of women’s rights, is nothing but a pre-planned scene. 

It also seems that defending the rights of women was not motivated by real convictions on the importance of their presence, but rather by the desire to oppose the Ennahda Movement and to score points in this battle against it. 

There is yet another social hypothesis which says that women are still afraid to enter the world of politics and to be under the microscope. The patriarchal society surrounding women makes their presence very limited and gives them only two choices: their family life or the world of politics which might undermine their family life.  This makes women hesitant to enter the world of politics. 

The third hypothesis is adopted by journalist and activist Najiha Rejiba. She says that women did not really defend their right to preside lists. It also says that rights should be taken by struggle and they should not be granted.

“Political parties have raised many slogans but they did not respect them,” Rejiba said. “Positive discrimination in favor of women was just a rhetorical slogan in the on-going competition between the different parties who are standing on the doors of modernity.” 

“The moment the electoral competition started, all old traditions and norms as well as masculinity tendencies have re-surfaced,” she said. “There are many women, who refuse to join the electoral councils and I am one of them,” she reiterated.   

Most of the political parties are still making the first steps in democracy.  In their election test, they have shown lots of contradictions, not only with regard to their declared stances on women, but also with regard to other issues. 

This has been reflected in the resignations of many members of these parties as a result of the absence of democratic rules within these parties.  Most of the Tunisian parties that claim to be democratic are just projects of democratic parties.  They are democratic by default but reactionary in reality.