Islamic Sheriat law strikes again!

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Algerian Islamic parties oppose women rights reform
08 Sep 2004 14:07:26 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Paul de Bendern

ALGIERS, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Islamic parties said on Wednesday they would oppose a government plan to improve Algerian women's rights in marriage and divorce in the Muslim country emerging from more than a decade of civil war.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika made reforming the 1984 family code a priority after his sweeping re-election in April but now faces pressure from two Islamic parties, one within the coalition government, to call a referendum or kill the bill.

"We will mobilise all society to stop this reform," said Abdelmajid Menasra, deputy chairman of the MSP, a member of the government that has called for a national referendum.

Analysts fear Bouteflika may stall or water down the reform, which would show Islamic parties still carry weight after a long-running Islamic militant uprising that claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people, according to human rights groups.

The jihad was sparked by the cancellation of elections the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was set to win in 1992.

The reform bans men from divorcing their wives for no reason and gives women the right to financial support from their ex-husbands. Men would need their wives' permission to take more wives, up to the four permitted by Islam.

The Islamic sharia law-inspired code would scrap the need for women to ask permission from a male family member to marry.

"These amendments are unconstitutional as they go against the constitution, which says sharia Islamic law is the state religion," said Lakhdar Benkhalef of El Islah opposition party.

ALGERIA LAGS NEIGHBOURS

The reform was expected to be put to a vote in parliament this month but rising opposition and no approval yet by Bouteflika means its future is unclear, analysts said. The president promised in his first term to reform the law.

The country's largest party, the National Liberation Front, largely supports Bouteflika and has yet to give its blessing.

Bouteflika is walking a tightrope as he must satisfy reformists who helped him get re-elected and now complain Morocco and Tunisia have overtaken Algeria on the issue.

"We can vote but are considered children at home -- talk about hypocrisy," said Kenza Djaboudi, who works in a shop.

Algeria was once seen a champion of women rights in the Arab world after its women fought alongside men in the war of independence against France and openly demonstrated against the rise of fundamentalism in the 1990s.

The left-wing Workers' Party, which put forward a woman presidential candidate in April, warned that in a country where most of the population is under 30 radical change was needed.

While women have few rights on paper, they do flex their muscles in daily life. In main cities most women dress freely and often in Western clothes and are increasingly seeking jobs. (Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed and Lamine Chikhi)