Libyan Researcher to LANA: Raising Women's Representation to One-Third or Parity Strengthens Their Presence in Municipal Councils
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Tripoli, 22 September 2026 (LANA) – Researcher specializing in international economic relations, Zahia Al-Manfi, stressed the need to strengthen women's political representation and increase the quota allocated to women to one-third or parity, ensuring the presence of an influential bloc of women within municipal councils, while also strengthening women's independence from male-dominated electoral lists.
In a statement to the Libyan News Agency, Al-Manfi said she had prepared a study assessing women's participation in municipal council elections in Libya, focusing on the key obstacles limiting women's access to local decision-making positions.
The study proposed a number of measures aimed at enhancing women's participation, including developing the electoral system and introducing safeguards to ensure effective women's representation rather than merely symbolic participation. It also called for establishing clear standards for the qualifications of female candidates or adopting a dedicated women's seat alongside the electoral list system.
Al-Manfi highlighted the importance of linking women's candidacies to their practical experience in municipal work, in addition to strengthening financial disclosure and adopting an electoral code of honor, while clarifying the responsibilities and duties associated with holding municipal council seats.
She emphasized that increasing the number of women on municipal councils, in itself, is not sufficient to ensure their effective participation, stressing the importance of moving from symbolic representation to genuine and influential participation in local decision-making.
In this context, she called for reforming the electoral system, ensuring the independence of female candidates, and providing the necessary training, funding, and information, in addition to creating an environment that enables women to participate efficiently and independently in local decision-making.
...(LANA)...