Female representation in Lebanese politics seems to be taking a step back rather than forward; an eternal game of snakes and ladders.

With only 3.1 percent of parliamentary seats now occupied by women, Lebanon ranks at the bottom of the table of parliamentary representation of women in the Middle East, below neighboring Syria at 12.4 percent, and Iraq at a comparatively high quota of 25 percent.

In 2005, a national commission to draft a new electoral law suggested creating a 30 percent women’s quota, but was flatly rejected by politicians.