African women stay winning!
Souad Aderrahim, a woman from Tunisia’s moderate Islamic party was elected on Tuesday as mayor of the capital city, Tunis, making history as it would be the first time a woman would ever hold the post. She defeated her top rival, Kamel Idir, of the party Nida Tounes, founded by the Tunisian president.
Not only is she the first woman to be elected in Tunisian history, she is the first woman in history to become mayor of an Arabic capital. Huge strides indeed. She was the only winner among a half-dozen women from the Ennahdha party who competed for mayoral posts in the region around Tunis
Abderrahim, a former lawmaker and advocate for women’s rights, doesn’t wear a hijab.
Abderrahim said in an interview with The Associated Press during her campaign, that cleaning up the capital and planting trees would be her first priority, NBC reports.
She also said that the female candidates put forth by her party constitute a “message aimed at reassuring the women of my country” that advances made by women in the the North African nation would not be compromised by her party.
Tunisia has been the most advanced among Arab nations regarding women’s rights since gaining independence from France in 1956, with its first president Habib Bourguiba, advocating principles of equality of men and women in the constitution.
What a woman. What a revolution!
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