Women may wind up with better representation in Iraq, than in US

[kayell]

The draft Iraqi constitution will guarantee women equal rights under the law and a quota in the national assembly of 25 percent membership. This will be almost double the level of female representation in the US congress, with 13 female senators out of 100, and 73 house reps out of 535.

Has your diet been irony poor lately? Probably not, but just in case, contemplate this situation for a while.

[meegbear]

1. That should be brought up during the prez debates

does * support the Iraqi "quota" system, and if yes, then why is he against it here with minorities?

[DarkPhenyx]

2. It isn't a guarantee.

It only says taht they may hold up to 25% w/o any guarantee that those seats will actually be filled by women.

It's a band-aid statement.

[kayell]

3. The articles I have seen use the word guarantee

"Women's rights, also a touchy issue among conservative Muslims, were advanced. Discrimination by sex is forbidden under the document. As a practical matter, women are guaranteed a representative quota in the national assembly of 25 percent membership."
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/8075437.htm

The other articles I've seen also use the same source at the Chicago Sun, which isn't coming up for me.

What are you basing the "may hold UP TO 25%" statement on? Can someone point me to an English translation?

[DarkPhenyx]

4. I'm basing it on what I'm hearing on NPR and the BBC.

The way they are reporting it is taht it's more of a goal. The "pseudo-quote" I heard was that they have no way of guarenteeing that any of the female candidates will be qualified enough to get elected, let alone enough to make up 25% of the gov't.

[kayell]

5. The excuses for discrimination are pretty much the same everywhere

:eyes: "no way of guarenteeing that any of the female candidates will be qualified enough to get elected" Classic.

Thanks, I found a little more on what you said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1159402,00.html
A coalition official said the charter sets a goal, not a quota, to have at least 25% of the national assembly made up of women.