TERZE TEHA

Sulaymaniyah- Five days later, people in Iraq will cast their votes to elect members of the parliament. Political parties have speeded up their electoral campaigns for the elections. The candidates visit every street and neighborhood to ask for people’s votes.  However, the women criticize the candidates to ignore women.  The women demand the candidates care about their votes.

Dr. Nermin Meruf, a candidate of the Kurdistan Alliance in Sulaymaniyah, said that the candidates, who want to represent all people, will get the votes of women. Indicating that she, as a female candidate, cares about the votes of women, “We should vote for women and support them.”

“Candidates don’t care about the votes of women”

Sinor Kerim, a human and women's rights defender in Sulaymaniyah, criticizes both female and male candidates, “We should achieve gender equality. However, our society is still a patriarchal society. There is still gender discrimination in Kurdish society and women don’t have the right to make decisions. Female and male candidates don’t care about the votes of women. They think if they win the votes of men, they will win the votes of families. For this reason, they don’t ask what women want. If the candidates don’t change their minds, they will fail in leading society. We, as women, should stand against this mindset. The candidates should focus on women’s problems and work for women.”