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Sanaa: An EU official has criticised Yemeni political parties for not supporting women in the recent presidential and local elections.
Baroness Emma Nicholson, chief of the EU mission, which observed Yemen's elections, blamed men in Yemen for the situation of women saying that it went against Islam.
"I am very concerned about the position of women in Yemen and I have been very tough with all the men here. The situation is undoubtedly their fault, 100 per cent," said Baroness Nicholson in an exclusive interview with Gulf News in Sanaa.
"This is against Islam and it is against the constitution. This behaviour saddens me as a politician and saddens me as a woman," said Nicholson who sponsored a meeting in Sanaa on Monday in which all political parties signed an agreement to support women's political participation.
"Allah [God], in his wisdom, made men and women equal. Why now are men in Yemen saying they know better....," she said.
A total of 33 women won local council seats - versus about 7,000 men in the September 20 elections. The number of female candidates was around 150, versus 18,000 male candidates.
Although political parties repeatedly promised to adopt a quota system to give opportunities to women, no party has fulfilled its promise so far.
Baroness Nicholson who has read the Quran and has Muslim relatives, blamed men for the failure of the parties to adopt a quota system to empower women.
"This failure is a result of the fundamental weakness of the male sex, 100 per cent. I challenge the men here to think again, to read the Quran, to look at the constitution, to decide on a new pattern of behaviour."
The EU official said she was planning to hold a conference in Brussels for Arab women which could be opened by the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
"We are planning to hold an Arab Women's Conference in Brussels and with President Saleh's agreement, Yemen will be the star of the show. The President has accepted our invitation to come to Brussels to address the EU Parliament, and if the timing fits he has agreed to open the Arab Women's Conference," she said.
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