Albawaba.com - Amman
Jordan’s Lower House of Parliament has chosen Noha Maayta on Tuesday to become the second woman to be elected to Jordan's parliament since the foundation of the kingdom in 1921.
The election was conducted among MPs themselves to fill the seat left vacant by Lufti Barghuti, who died in January.
Of the 75 MPs present, 46 voted Maayta, 23 for another woman, Samar Khaled al-Haj Hassan, three abstained and three cast a blank ballot.
Maayta, a feminist activist in her 50s, won the vote on the fourth round.
In a statement to Albawaba.com, she said that she proposed an economic program and another on women issues in the Jordanian society.
The first program, she said, focused on ways to activate investment, tourism and agriculture. It also looked into the reasons for the recession witnessed by the national economy, and ways of handling the problem.
As to the second program, Maayta said that she seeks in it promoting the role of women to assume decision making positions in Jordan.
Tujan Feysal, who was known for her hawkish opposition stands, became the country's first woman MP in 1989. She lost her seat four years later. She acused the authorities of forging results in favor of her rival.
Feminists have called for a quota for women in the bicameral parliament – Albawaba.com
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