Syria Opposition in Exile Fails to Elect Women
Syria Opposition in Exile Fails to Elect Women - Houston Chronicle
Syria’s main opposition bloc elected an all-male leadership team early Thursday, undermining its own bid to showcase itself as a more diverse group that can represent all those trying to oust President Bashar Assad.
The Syrian National Council’s general assembly of some 420 members chose a 40-member leadership body after hours of voting at a conference held at a hotel in the Qatari capital of Doha. The 40-member group is to choose an 11-member executive body and an SNC president later Thursday.
The SNC, largely made up of exiles and heavily influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood, has been criticized as ineffective and out of touch with those trying to topple Assad. The U.S. wants a more cohesive and representative opposition, suggesting the SNC’s leadership days are over.
When the SNC election results were announced, women delegates jumped up in protest. Some of the male delegates joined their demands that several women be added to the leadership group retroactively.
“This is a big problem,” Rima Fleihan, a Syrian writer and women’s activists, said of the marginal role of women in the political opposition in exile, noting that women in Syria are key activists in anti-regime protests.