Based on a pilot study of the Lebanese election results, it is obvious that women were present and influential, and that their presence marked a significant turning point, not just in terms of the extent of their representation, but also in terms of the election's overall path.

SUZANNE ABU SAID

Beirut- Defeats inflicted on the ruling parties in Beirut. Women were involved in the removal of many of their emblems, implying that by 2022, women would have formed an electoral force that would have guided a three-decade political route. They were a part of the victory, which was made possible by women's unwillingness to accept guardianship authority from traditional forces that deny them their most basic rights.

The electoral districts saw varying levels of participation, but the Mount Lebanon district saw the highest percentage, with a voter turnout approaching 60%. There were substantial violations, as seen by the arrival of the voices for change, particularly women's voices, in the parliament.

According to new figures, nine women have won seats in the parliament in this election, compared to six women in 2018, when Ghada Khalil Ayoub, the candidate for the Lebanese Forces Party (Seyda - Jezzine - South) district, received the greatest percentage of votes in her area. On the independent "Unite for Change" list (civil society), Dr. Halima Ibrahim Qaaqour and Dr. Najat Aoun Saliba from the Aley-Shouf district were both able to advance with their electoral quotients to the new parliament.

Former Beirut MP Paula Yacoubian and candidate Cynthia Fadi Zarazeer for the minority seat (Assyrians, Chaldeans, Copts, and others) in the first Beirut district, as well as former Beirut MP Sethrida Twk Geagea, a candidate for the Lebanese Forces in the third Bcharre al-Shamal district, were effective in getting the electoral ratio. Nada Boustany, a former Minister of Energy and Water for the Free Patriotic Movement from the Kesrouan-Jbeil district, and Inaya Ezzedine, a former MP from the south who supported the Shiite duo (Amal and Hezbollah), have also won the seats in the parliament.

NuJINHA team visited the Mount Lebanon areas of Aley - Shouf and Baabda, where women's perspectives on voting participation were polled.

Bert Anton, a Free Patriotic Movement delegate at the polling booth in Aariya, Baabda district, said “I will vote to make my voice heard, which is a responsibility, especially in this awful condition we live in. We also urge everyone to take part in decision -making processes. We must continue to battle to protect the country from crumbling, and I hope that women will work via groups concerned with what they want and their rights, as well as to hear their voices and thoughts, rather than through Parliament or laws."

"I am a Kataeb activist, and I am here on the ground to assist residents in voting, which is not only their right but also a duty for everyone," Michel Nabhan, a Kataeb party delegate from the party's tent in the Shweit polling station in Baabda district, said. "I had more hope for change as a woman, but the failure of the people to vote has shattered my expectation."

 “We struggled for four years to get to where we are now, particularly in terms of women's rights and what they did not achieve in Lebanon, whether in terms of providing citizenship to their children or their rights in general," she said, referring to the low voter turnout, notably in Beirut. “After Beirut has suffered from many crises since the port explosion, why don't people band together and demand reform from the political elite?

“You have no right to criticize or expect anything if you chose not to vote. How will non-voting women assert their rights?" she asked.

 "I don't have numbers of women's involvement in the lists," she said, "but there are two women of Kateab lists, and they require assistance.  We also think that men and women are equal."

Amal al-Hindi, from Zahle in the town of Shuwait's Baabda area, stated, "When it comes to women, they are repressed in many of their rights, especially in the countryside, and these rights include medical treatment, maternity leave, and others. We work, but we don't feel valued or taken into account as women, and our voices aren't heard; we hope the new Parliament will try to secure our rights, even if just on a rudimentary level.”

"We hope that the polls will respect women's views, mainly on matters like removing racism, demanding their rights, particularly in cases of abuse against women, and recognizing the efforts of women working at home," said Samira Dagher from Shweit village.

"We've come to see the change we desire," Abeer Munzer, a divorced woman from Baabda, said. "From my own personal experience, I've come to a fork in the road and a certain social scenario, and while I don't want to say that I failed or that my life came to a standstill in a particular spot, despite all of this, I persisted on my own, with no support from anybody. I'm hopeful that the new parliament would demand women's rights that we haven't been able to acquire till now.”

Abeer added “it is true, I am a working, professional, and self-sufficient woman, yet standing on my own needs a tremendous deal of effort, exhaustion, and criticism.” 

Abeer appealed to all authorities in this nation, including Parliament, ministers, and government employees, to assist the people and society, particularly women, without whom the country would not have been able to stand on its own two feet."

"I have high expectations for women's, children's, and societal rights, which I see in the list of changemakers, which includes five women concerned with women's issues and members of the KAFA Association for the Reduction of Violence Against Women, Ghada Ghazi Marouni Eid, Halima Qaaqour, Najat Aoun Saliba, Rania Adel Ghaith, and Zoya Najib Jureidini . That is, in fact, what interests me as an activist." Diana Al-Banna, a member of the Aley Chouf constituency, stated.

"I'm a contract teacher; I graduated from the College of Education in 2003 and have been in my position without any rights for more than 16 years," she said, adding “I am paid at the exact hour that I am aware of. I am not paid during official vacations, protests, sit-ins, and other events.”

In the Chouf-Aley district, Ghawa Jaber of the Lebanese Democratic Party remarked, "I chose to vote today by assisting my coworkers. My choice is founded on my belief in change, which I want to realize even if it is on a tiny scale. It is enough for the period when men governed us and the stories of corruption we are experiencing."

"I keep hoping that everyone who attains Legislature, man or woman, will make a contribution to women's access to their rights, such as granting citizenship to their children and widening the field of work and output before us," she said, highlighting her belief that women could provide what men haven't done in thirty years.

"Women and their children's rights must be granted," Taleen Zeidan of the Lebanese Democratic Party, said. In her first election as a voter, she believes that society and politics should encourage women since they are involved and capable of making major contributions to their communities, regardless of their circumstances. “The things women are exposed to are the most potent, and without them, there is no future,” she added.

"It is the first time I have decided to vote in parliamentary elections, and we have noted enormous excitement and turnout by women, even those who did not have knowledge on how to vote," Sally Fakhreddine of the Progressive Socialist Party's Information Committee of the Chouf-Aley district, said.

“The goal of our presence in this country is to maintain our independence. We vote and develop plans for the future using our brains. Today's voice is tomorrow's will. I believe that both men and women can achieve the chances they seek,” she added.

"We have tremendous hope in the members of this list, hoping that the brain's mass migration will cease, and the female component will halt," Faten Tarabay, a delegate for the "Partnership and Will" list in the village's Baabda area, stated. The Progressive Socialist Party has two candidates on its list with the hopes of gaining women's rights and achieving equality in Parliament.

"I hope that the elections will provide a satisfactory result," Mona Daw said, "but I do not foresee a substantial movement in these elections. Instead, I feel we are on the cusp of calamity, and I am hopeful that women will play a greater role in society. They can play a full role in society as long as they can manage a family and a home.”

"I voted to change and better the nation's situation," Nada Salim Mahmoud, a member of the "Sovereignty and Decision" list from Baabda district's village, said, "Women have the ability to tip the scales and perhaps take over the presidency to better reflect the country."

"I went to the polls in good spirits and with a laid-back attitude," Taghreed Daou, a special needs woman from the town of Al-Qarya, said. "The change will only happen step by step, let's start this change little by little, and let our voice be influential at the polls," she added. "I have a desire for change and hope for it because I believe the October 17 revolution began in every Lebanese household, and it is our hope because change has become an essential need, and the moment has arrived."

"In this nation, the natural person's rights have been squandered," she concluded, "What about those with disabilities? We have the impression that we have reached a point where we have become reliant on those around us as a result of the state and laws that were not enacted to protect us as individuals, and it is our responsibility to pass laws that protect us so that we do not feel reliant on our families, society, or environment. The government must comply with a number of demands. People with special needs are looked after and their needs are addressed in the same way they are in any other country.”