UAE women to join parliament

UAE women to join parliament

ABU DHABI (AFP): The United Arab Emirates, a conservative Moslem nation, yesterday dropped long-standing social barriers and said women could play a role in politics as members of its appointed parliament.

"From our experience in the Federal National Council (FNC), we now feel that we really need the women to play their role in the parliamentary life. I think women are behind all political decisions in the world," parliament speaker al-Haj ibn Abdullah al-Muhairbi told the official daily al-Ittihad when asked whether it was time for women to join parliament.

Muhairbi's comments come a week after the UAE president's wife Sheikha Fatima, who heads the Emirates Women's Union, called for local women to be allowed to join the FNC, the appointed parliament in the oil-rich Gulf country.

It was the first time that UAE officials have openly called for women to be admitted into political life, which has remained restricted to men.