By Sami Zaptia.
London, 28 February 2021:
Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba, prime minister designate of the proposed Government of National Unity (GNU), came in for much social media criticism after, in response to a question from the media at last Thursday’s Tripoli press conference, he said that there were no women put forward by the regions for his intended cabinet.
He then compounded this faux pas by spouting off stereotypical and condescending phrases associated with patriarchy apologists such as women are our ”mother, sister, daughter” etc.
This led to a social media backlash in which women said they wanted to be his equal not his relative. The backlash forced Aldabaiba to hold a virtual meeting with the female members of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF).
Remember, if the House of Representatives fails to hold a unified session with a quorum to pass a vote of confidence in the GNU, it will be up to the LPDF to pass that vote of confidence. Therefore, Aldabaiba will need to keep on good terms with the female members of the 74-member LPDF.
Moreover, the LPDF had stipulated that the GNU allocates 30 percent of its positions to females.
It will be seen if Aldabaiba will now change his thinking and insert an adequate number of females into his government, and whether this will be enough to satisfy the LPDF.
