As the upcoming parliamentary elections draw closer, the issue of women's representation in Lebanese political life returns to the forefront, not only as a matter of rights, but as a national necessity to rescue Lebanese politics from its deeply rooted structural crisis, which affects political legitimacy, popular representation, and the balance of power within parties.

Global experiences have shown that the political empowerment of women is not merely a matter of gender justice, but lies at the heart of state stability and development. In Lebanon specifically, where sectarianism intersects with clientelism and political patriarchy, women’s participation becomes a key indicator of the system’s capacity for renewal. However, the current reality reveals that such renewal remains stalled, and that women’s presence in Lebanese politics is still subject to the “goodwill” of political parties, rather than the result of genuine institutional reforms that ensure fair and systematic participation, such as the adoption of a gender quota in the electoral law.

From Past to Present: Faltering Steps and Slow Progress

Although Lebanese women gained the right to vote and stand for election in 1952, the road to real representation remains long and arduous. The uncontested election of Myrna Bustani in 1963 opened the door to political inheritance, as seven other women followed her into parliament through seats passed down from their husbands, fathers, or relatives. Thus, women’s entry into parliament did not evolve into an independent path to empowerment. It became an extension of male-dominated political families with new female faces, rather than an expression of autonomous participation.

More than seventy years after political rights were granted to women, their parliamentary representation has not exceeded 6.25%, while ministerial representation stands at 20.8%, and municipal representation at just 11%. These figures reflect a token presence rather than a meaningful one, as women’s political participation remains constrained by structural factors such as the electoral law, nominating women to safe seats, lack of equal financial and media support, and political inheritance.

Despite the passing of some laws in support of women, equality has yet to materialize in practice. Lebanon continues to experience a gap between what is enshrined de jure in legal texts and what is applied de facto in reality. Though it remains essential, reform must go beyond enacting laws, to include transforming the environment in which they are implemented, within a governance system rooted in transparency, accountability and equal opportunity.

Political Parties: Progressive Rhetoric and Traditional Practice

Women make up 51% of registered voters in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Interior’s 2025 data. Yet their presence in political life and decision-making within parties remains limited. A recent UN Women study (October, 2025) shows that women account for only 35% of political party membership on average, ranging from 15% in the Progressive Socialist Party to 58% in the Future Movement. The rate of young women’s membership stands at 43%, reflecting a positive shift in youth engagement, as some parties have adopted more equality-sensitive rhetoric in response to the October 2019 uprising and as an attempt to attract new segments of voters.

However, this grassroots participation is not mirrored at the leadership levels. Women’s presence is relatively low, and at times nearly absent, at mid-level, where direct engagement with party bases and communities occurs. This is particularly evident in political parties like the Progressive Socialist Party and Amal Movement, which attribute this absence to societal resistance toward women’s leadership in the field. Representation improves at the operational level, although this is often limited to administrative and specialized branches, such as the women’s and youth wings.

Where party quotas have been implemented, they have proven effective in raising women's participation. For example, women now make up 42% of the leadership council of the Progressive Socialist Party. In contrast, women constitute only 5.8% of the political bureau of the Lebanese Forces, a party that refuses to adopt any special measures in this regard.

But this openness does not necessarily reflect a genuine transformation in political practice—the structural exclusion of women within parties persists. The UN Women study revealed that women are largely absent from internal electoral bodies, and although about 75% of parties have women’s departments, they do not hold decisive power in candidate selection, even though they are consulted. The final decisions often rest with a “parallel network” or a “tight inner circle” of male-dominated leaders, a dynamic that highlights “affinity bias” and was cited by 63% of surveyed women.

Furthermore, the “internal quotas” adopted by some parties are usually limited to organizational and administrative roles within the party and do not extend to parliamentary, municipal, or ministerial nominations. The lack of political will among leaders renders women’s participation largely symbolic rather than reformative, and obstructs any structural change within the parties themselves.

To ensure fair access and reduce structural discrimination, parties must adopt transparent and accountable mechanisms for selecting candidates for both internal party roles and public elections.

Party Quotas and Electoral Reform

Experience has shown that the adoption of institutional quotas with clear and binding mechanisms is the fastest route to correcting representational imbalance. The internal experiences of parties that adopted quotas demonstrated a relative increase in women’s participation in upper leadership levels. However, this has not translated into electoral candidacies, as women are often nominated in unwinnable districts and without sufficient financial or media support.

A 2022 UNDP study found that out of 118 women who ran in the elections only 8 won seats, and collectively the female candidates received only 7% of preferential votes—evidence that the problem is structural, not related to the female candidates’ personal qualifications.

The 2025 UN Women study further confirmed that the gap between rhetoric and practice remains wide. Most political parties that publicly champion equality failed to reflect these principles either in their candidate lists or in their internal structures. For instance, the Amal Movement includes around 20% women in its political bureau without any formal internal quota, despite the fact that it was among the parties to propose a quota law through MP Inaya Ezzeddine, its only female parliamentarian.

Similarly, the Marada Movement’s leader submitted a draft electoral law including a women’s quota when he was Minister of Interior in 2005, but the party failed to reflect this commitment in its nominations until 2022. In contrast, the Lebanese Forces party continues to reject any form of quota, citing a strict merit-based approach, yet only two out of four female candidates on its 2022 lists were elected.

The Free Patriotic Movement, after conducting a gender audit, adopted an action plan to institutionalize gender equality, including joint training for men and women and creating a women-friendly work environment. Still, women account for just 11% of its top leadership, and only one of its two female candidates won a parliamentary seat.

The Taqaddom Party adopts a 30% internal quota in its political bureau and stands out as one of the few parties that nominated a woman and a man, both of whom won in the elections.

Conversely, some parties nominated women to parliament but failed to provide them with adequate support. This is evident in the case of the Progressive Socialist Party's vice president, who received just 681 votes out of the 83,389 total votes garnered by her party’s list in the 2022 elections. Female candidates made up a quarter of the Kataeb Party’s list, yet none were elected.

The Future Movement, though absent from the 2022 elections, had previously set a notable precedent in 2018 by offering genuine support to its female candidates. Three of the four women it nominated were elected, constituting half of the entire female parliamentary bloc. Ironically, the female candidate who lost secured over 3,000 votes against only 77 for the male winner, highlighting the flaws in the electoral law and the weakness of representational justice, despite strong party backing.

In contrast to traditional parties with greater financial, media, political, and sectarian influence, reform-oriented parties and alliances have shown greater alignment with equality principles, beginning with the “Beirut Madinati” municipal campaign in 2016, where women made up 50% of the list.

This trend continued in the 2018 parliamentary elections, with Tahalof Watani nominating over 30% women across nine electoral districts. However, the list won only one seat, secured by MP Paula Yacoubian. In the 2022 elections, Tahalof Watani nominated five women out of eight candidates in Beirut’s First District, and two of them were elected. Overall, reformist parties together secured four of the eight parliamentary seats won by women in the 2022 elections.

These outcomes highlight that nominating women in safe districts within supportive alliances, alongside providing them with political, financial and media backing, and adopting quotas as an effective mechanism for their inclusion on electoral lists, all play a crucial role in empowering women to reach decision-making positions, despite limited resources.

Nevertheless, this empowerment remains fragile in the face of discriminatory practices and gender-based political violence, which continue to be a structural barrier to equal political participation and undermine women’s presence, even after reaching decision-making positions, by reinforcing male dominance and blatantly violating the core of democratic practice.

Political Violence: The Silent Barrier

Field testimonies reveal that many women have experienced political harassment or bullying but chose not to report it, fearing stigma or retaliation. The absence of effective reporting mechanisms within political parties also deprives women of protection and reinforces their reluctance to engage in public life.

This underscores the urgent need to establish independent protection committees and adopt clear, binding codes of conduct that guarantee a safe and accountable environment within political parties and parliament. Political participation begins with a sense of safety in the political and partisan space.

Conclusion: Toward Comprehensive Political Reform

The persistent gap between political promises and actual reforms reveals that the enactment of pro-equality laws is hindered not only by a lack of awareness but, more critically, by a lack of political will among dominant parties. These parties raise equality slogans without translating them into actionable policies and enforceable legislation. In fact, the very parties holding parliamentary majorities are those that have obstructed or delayed key laws supporting women, such as the gender quota and laws combating violence against women. This highlights a structural flaw in the political system, rooted in patriarchal power structures and dynamics of control.

No genuine reform in women’s political representation can occur without also including women in the radical reform of the electoral and political system as a whole, ensuring equality in opportunities, resources, and accountability. The current electoral law, based on proportional representation within narrow sectarian districts, does not deliver representational justice nor enable fair competition. Instead, it entrenches clientelism and preserves the dominance of existing political elites.

Integrating the principles of transparency, accountability, and gender equality into the electoral process is a cornerstone of good governance. Without them, decision-making remains monopolized by closed circles of political and financial power. Expanding women’s participation not only increases public trust in institutions but also curbs corruption by broadening the base of societal oversight and engaging long-marginalized groups in decision-making.

Women’s empowerment in politics is not merely a numbers game; it is a pathway to renewing political leadership and building good governance that reflects all segments of society. It opens the door to a new, fairer, more balanced Lebanon, led not by half a political mind, but by a fully engaged one.

References

Chebaro, Abir. (2025). Lebanese Women: From Political Participation to Party Leadership. UN Women and the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon. Beirut: UN Women. https://lebanon.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/en_lebanese_women_from_political_participation_to_party_leadership_full_report.pdf

United Nations Development Programme. (2022). 2022 Parliamentary elections key results brochure [PDF]. UNDP. https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2023-11/final_2022-parliamentary_elections_key_results_brochure_web.pdf