A plea for women’s political participation

During a parliamentary session, Deputy Sheikh Yussef Al Khazin requested that women be granted the right to vote; his request was supported by a mere three votes, and the bill was not passed as a consequence(1)Hanifa Ali al-Katib, تاريخ تطور الحركة النسائية في لبنان وإرتباطها بالعالم العربي، 1800-1975, Beirut: Dar al-Hadatha, 1984,  p. 44-45. This incident nevertheless sparked early discussions on women’s political participation, which would continue for several years to come(2)Lamia Shehadeh, Women and War in Lebanon, Gainesville, University Press of Florida, 1999, p. 31-32..