Megawati
Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri has become the target of a fatwa forbidding votes for a female presidential candidate. (A fatwa is a religious decision, not necessarily a death sentence, as it is often understood by Western non-Muslims who know only the fatwa against Salman Rushdie.) From News24.com, with thanks to Ali Dashti:
"It was noted that the prohibition on women to assume positions of leadership was no longer a question still in dispute but already something that has been generally accepted among Muslim clerics," one of them, Anwar Iskandar, told Antara news agency.Megawati's party won the 1999 parliamentary election. But Islamic parties in the legislature, which at the time chose presidents, blocked her bid for the leadership - partly on the grounds of her sex. ...
Koran Tempo in an editorial criticised the edict. "Not only does such a fatwa have no weight but the public can also consider it cheap," the paper said.
It will be interesting to see whether the vote goes with the clerics or with the perspective of Koran Tempo.
I suspect that educating and getting women involved in all aspects of public life will be one of the major blows against radical islam.
“Your granddaughter will be running for office.”
Canuck - Megawati's already in office and she is ineffective and corrupt. So deep are her antecedents in corruption that she probably doesn't even understand she didn't come by her office honestly.
Frankly, in the third world, it's not a good idea to have women as chiefs of state. Indira Gandhi was a disaster for India. Benadir Bhutto was a disaster for Pakistan. Mrs Bandaranike was a disaster for Sri Lanka. Megawati is proving weak and ineffective (to put it at its most kindly) in Indonesia and is looking set fair to be a disaster. Get the female relatives of once-powerful Asian male politicians off the map. Indira Ghandi's dad. Benazir Bhutto's dad. Megawati's dad. Get rid of these self-righteous women and get some real candidates with interesting ideas and the bravery to see them through.
Megawati's another self-righteous, posturing loser who will hold her country back for 50 years.
I never said that women would do a better job of being in power than men. I merely meant that it would help dissolve the power of radical islam.
“Your grandchildren will be tavern owners.”
Muslim clerics have too much power, and power is an awesome feeling. Imagine having the power to remove an elected official from office, to force an entire sex into submission, to compel murder and violence, to raise a private militia, to deman obedience, even though it's supposed to be for the will of Allah.
Such temporal power should not be in the hands of men, even those that are supposed to be representing the deity. As power will corrupt. The fruits of corruption aren't always monetary and the wielding of power can become a vice.
This is just a stupid power grab via fatwa and it shows how much disregard Islamic clerics have for the voting booth and the democratic process.
canuck
I'm starting to understand your sense of humor.... I think!?