Women satisfied with Kurdish Parliament’s amendments to personal law

Arbil-Feature ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: The decision made by the Kurdish Parliament to make amendments to the personal status law regarding adding new conditions on polygamy has raised positive reactions among Kurdish women, who described the decision as important step towards boosting their role in the society. “The conditions made by the parliament regarding polygamy are a positive step for the Kurdish woman and will lead to decreasing this phenomenon,” MP Pakhshan Zanka told IraqiNews.com. “We seek during the first session to approve a law to prevent polygamy, but we were unable to, although we instated conditions which will decrease this phenomenon,” she added. For her part, Suzan Mohamed Aaref, a feminist, told IraqiNews.com that “this is a positive step for the woman and we can’t change society as a whole very suddenly.” “The difference between the number of votes for banning polygamy and the votes for limiting it was so close which considers a great success for woman,” she asserted. “We have to realize that there are women who believe of the importance of sticking to Islamic Shariaa (law) and not banning polygamy,” she said. The Kurdish Parliament last Wednesday voted to make some amendments to the personal status law number 188 in 1959, which boost woman’s rights in marriage and divorce cases, in addition to putting additional conditions regarding polygamy. Kazibouh Ali, an employee, 36, told IraqiNews.com that the new amendments are a good step because if the new law banned polygamy this could lead to the spread of the divorce as some men will divorce their sterile wives to marry again which is not in the good of women. Abdul Rahman Haji Zibari, a legal man, told IraqiNews.com that “the Iraqi constitution gives the Kurdish parliament the right to make amendments on laws but these amendments will be in force inside the region only.” SH (S)/SR   2