Egypt

Human rights activists and civil society organisations continue to seek stronger political representation for Egyptian women in parliament, ahead of elections for the lower house of the legislative authority this year.

The Shura Council, which holds full legislative powers until those elections are held, approved the elections law and another law that regulates political rights on January 19th.

The National Front for Egypt’s Women announced its rejection of the draft elections law on Sunday, which does not guarantee any representation for women.

After being amended by the Shura Council, the draft elections law was sent to the Supreme Constitutional Court on Sunday to determine its constitutionality.

In Egypt, a number of women was appointed to the national courts by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the country's highest legal authority. Although a number of prominent judicial figures have spoken out against the decision, rights activists and SJC officials praised the move.
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A group of women from the movement has appealed for the right to run for office as members of the movement's council, "to resolve the internal problems of the organisation, play a more important role and participate in political life so that they can be elected to the general leadership".
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The Muslim Brotherhood’s first women’s division, the Muslim Sisters Group, was created in 1932. Since then, women activists have been at the forefront of the social and political struggle of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt, which seeks to establish a democratic political system in the country with an Islamic frame of reference. Women activists advocating for an Islamic political system through the Brotherhood believe that Islam brought justice to women.

In recent years, Egypt has witnessed increasing participation by women in grassroots political activism. Local civil rights advocates attribute the phenomenon to novel means of communication and organisation, especially the social networking website Facebook.
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The sudden change of the Egyptian media is worrying for all those who understand the moral responsibility of the press and the ethics it is supposed to adhere to and respect. It was shocking to see the rhetoric of all the newspapers change suddenly overnight, reflecting political hypocrisy. 

A revolution for the Egyptian press?