It seems an eternity has passed since the call for gender equality within the Jordanian government commenced, and yet, in 2007 progress still moves at a stilted pace.

In contravention of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the government earlier this week rejected calls to double the women’s quota in parliament to twelve seats out of 110 in the Lower House.

As a consolation prize, the activists were imparted a pearl of wisdom by Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit: to support ”qualified women to run for the upcoming elections and encourage Jordanian women to vote for their peers instead of depending on the quota.”

However, the premier equally believes that progress is already in full swing:

The government believes in women’s capabilities and defended its decision to increase the quota during the municipal elections, which opened the door for over 200 women to take part in public service.

Of course, Bakhit’s sagacious snippets have not sated activist’s desire for what is, essentially, a necessary change.

According to the Jordanian Women’s Union President, Amneh Zu’bi, the result was unanticipated:

We were really disappointed with the outcome of the meeting because we thought the government invited us to the meeting to inform us that it had responded positively to our demands.

The factors halting progress can also be traced to the quota system and social attitudes to women in government.

Emily Naffa, a CEDAW activist, insists that the current quota does not benefit women in densely-populated areas, since it has produced weak female candidates who “voted against laws favouring women” and that it would “only help bring inexperienced women to the Lower House and ignore districts with high populations”.

The female deputies who served in the previous government came from the governorates of Karak, Tafileh, Irbid and Zarqa. Seven women were also appointed the same year to serve in the Upper House.

Before the quota was introduced, only two women had served in the Lower House: Toujan Faisal, who won a Circassian seat in the 1993 elections, and Nuha Maaytah, who won a seat through parliamentary by-elections in 2001.

In a UNIFEM study released earlier this year the diminutive number of women achieving  parliamentary seats in greater numbers arises from social and political factors, including the disbelief that women are “capable of working in politics.”

A plethora of other obstacles comprise the one-person, one-vote formula, which has deterred many women from running, and the lack of financial resources for female candidates.

Such setbacks prove all the more mind-boggling when one considers the progress Jordan executes in many realms of development. To do so little in others – such as politics and law – seems churlish.

The Election Law in particular has proven contentious for numerous groups within Jordanian society. One cannot but  imagine the progress that could be forged should this prickly issue be handled swiftly and diligently.