‘Our election system deserves to become a model for all countries’
“Our election system deserves to become a model for all countries,” said the women of North and East Syria, pointing out that the municipal elections to be held in the region on June 11 are a historical step.
SÎLVA AL-ÎBRAHÎM
Manbij- The municipal elections scheduled to be held in North and East Syria on 30 May have been postponed to June 11 by the High Election Commission of North and East Syria to complete the preparations for the elections and to put the Social Contract in force. The elections are first of their kind in the world with the co-presidency system, the electoral gender quota that requires that 50% of the candidates on the electoral lists are women and the primary elections in which women candidates were determined by women.
The women of North and East Syria define the municipal elections as a “historical step”.
‘Our system deserves to become a model for all countries’
“The upcoming municipal elections are a historical step,” said Meryem Osman, coordinating member of the Zenubya Women’s Community, pointing out that women's right to vote and be elected was limited before the revolution. “Women's participation in the elections is a great success. Women have achieved these gains by struggling and making great efforts. Today, women create themselves with their free will in North and East Syria. Our system deserves to become a model for all countries. When the region was controlled by Daesh, women were sold in slave markets. We witnessed the atrocity of Daesh and today we witness the historical changes in the lives of women. The ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’ slogan chanted during the revolution in Rojava is now a global slogan.”
‘Women unite and write their own history’
The co-presidency system is the only and first model that represents gender equality, Meryem Osman noted. “Women can become candidates or determine their own candidates without being subjected to any oppression. In the primary elections, they determined their own mayoral candidates. Women unite and write their own history. We should unite and struggle together to achieve more gains. As leader Abdullah Öcalan says, we write the history of women today. We will build the Democratic Confederation of Women.”
‘We have taken important steps for democracy’
Azab Al-Aboud, Co-chair of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) Executive Council of Manbij Canton, said that an important step was taken when the July 19 Revolution started in Rojava. “The system of the AANES aims to build a fair and equal life,” she said, pointing to the Social Contract approved in Rojava.