DOHA: Voters chose none of the 26 women who stood for election in Qatar’s first legislative elections on Saturday, disappointing candidates who had wanted to lend a voice for women and other Qataris in the Gulf monarchy’s political process. She urged Qatari women to start “voicing what they believe in” and vote for strong women candidates in future. Jasim, like fellow female candidates, said she had encountered some men who thought women should not run. Several female candidates had been seeking to improve the integration into Qatari society of children of female citizens married to foreigners who, like in other Gulf states, cannot pass their Qatari nationality to their children. Male candidate Sabaan Al Jassim, 65, supports women standing in elections but said their primary role remains in the family.

Source: Pakistan Today October 03, 2021 04:52 UTC