BEYOND GENES AND GENDER: ELECTION LESSONS
By Rami G. Khouri, Jordan

One of the busiest sectors of Arab society's epic quest for modernity, social justice, and economic well-being is the ongoing campaign for women's equal rights -- the idea that women should not suffer legal or social obstacles to their full personal development and participation in public life, especially political life. The November parliamentary elections in Jordan provide a fascinating opportunity to analyze all that is noble and often wrong in the prevalent Arab approach to promoting women in politics.

The substantial, organizational, financial and political support for female parliamentary candidates was characterized by direct, sustained, very public, and virtually unprecedented, combined support by the royal family, state institutions, Jordanian and international non-governmental organizations, research centres, women's groups, the mass media, and other institutions. Consequently, 17 women candidates ran for parliament; but all lost. Whether or not Jordan is representative of the entire Arab world (I think it is), it merits attention as it now analyzes the failed experience of women in politics. Precisely, this failure followed such strong support for women candidates at both the elite and grassroots levels.

Most striking about the 17 women candidates who ran for parliament was that they broadly mirrored the lack of political credibility that defined most male candidates. (This may reflect the deeper dilemma that Arab parliaments are essentially cultural rather than political institutions, and that most Jordanian candidates and voters who participated in the November election did so more out of cultural obligation than ideological commitment). Very few female candidates were experienced politicians; some had local backgrounds in charitable societies and NGOs; and most had never before ventured into the unforgiving public jungle of political rhetoric. Most of the women, like most of the men, offered predictable platforms and promises that sounded more like the policy programs of the last 37 Jordanian cabinets than like bold new attempts to respond to real voter concerns with creative political dynamism. The reason all the women lost is not primarily that they were women, but rather that most of them were mediocre candidates, with dull platforms and little voter appeal.

A second striking feature in the women's electoral performance was the relative success of two women -- Toujan Feisal and Emily Naffa'a. Though neither won a seat, both performed strongly, and their attempts may point the way to women's political successes in the future.

Toujan Feisal had won a seat in the previous parliament in 1993 with less than 1900 votes. She more than doubled her appeal this year, securing 4227 votes in the contest for the Circassian/Chechen seat (but lost to Mr. Nayef Mawla's 5213 votes). Her vote total was more than any of the three men who won seats in Amman's 2nd district (whose totals ranged from 3617 to 2806 votes); she out-voted all five men who won seats in Amman's 5th district (who secured from 3000 to 1969 votes). Of all the seats in the Amman region, her 4227 votes ranked her seventh among the 18 winners; she received more votes than 12 of the 18 men who won in Amman.

Emily Naffa'a performed almost as well. Her 2292 votes were not enough to win the Christian seat in Amman's 3rd district (won by Khalil Haddadin's 3134 votes). Yet, her vote total averaged almost double the votes of two victorious men in the 3rd district (Ra'ad Bakri's 1306 votes, and Lutfi Barghouti's 1044 votes). Of the 18 successful parliamentary candidates from Amman, three had less votes than she had.

Had the electoral system been configured in a more rational manner, these two women would have won seats in parliament. Why did they do so well, relatively speaking? I would suggest the reason is mainly because they offered real political programs that responded to citizens' concerns, and that were articulated in a dynamic, appealing style. They deviated from the traditional "women's" issues, and reached out far beyond the artificial box they were placed in because of their status as Circassians or Christians. They addressed problems that concerned a majority of citizens -- problems of social and economic equity, fair access to basic human services, political dignity, the quality of democratic governance, Jordanian and Arab identity issues, Jordan's regional role and global relations, human and personal rights, and among other such important matters. These same issues were explicitly articulated in the hundreds of meetings by and for women that took place throughout the country in the two years preceding the elections; but for the most part these issues were not effectively translated into political platforms by charismatic female candidates.

Feisal and Naffa'a represent the latest example of a historic phenomenon we are witnessing in Jordan and other Arab lands -- the slow, quiet birth of genuine politics. This is the contestation of public power via a capacity to tap and organize an ideological consensus. These like-minded people work together on a basis other than the power of the state, tribe, religion or ethnicity. It is fascinating that these two women also share a strong Arab nationalist dimension.

The parliamentary elections showed that gender is not the issue, and therefore a quota for women in parliament -- as many women demand -- is probably not the answer. A quota for women would simply institutionalize the artificialities and unrealistic expectations which we witnessed among many women during the run-up to the elections this year. A better future should be built on the lessons, successes and mistakes of the past. Our immediate past tells us that the larger issue that concerns most citizens in Jordan -- and throughout the whole Arab world, I would argue -- is the equitable provision of rights, services, and opportunities for the ordinary Arab citizen. Candidates who address this issue are likely to do well, regardless of their genes or gender.

© Rami G. Khouri

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Rami G. Khouri is a journalist based in Amman, Jordan.