T

he new Tunisian constitution that came into effect  Monday guarantees equality for women in all fields, including in the political arena, a Tunisian professor of women studies says.

Houda Zaibi Belhassen of the University of Tunis told a seminar in Jakarta on Tuesday that many of her countrywomen were satisfied with the new constitution. Many even considered it a breakthrough for the predominantly Muslim nation.

The new constitution was endorsed after two years of exhaustive and often acrimonious debate by the Constitutional Assembly, which was elected in November 2011 with a dominant Islamists faction. A new election based on the new constitution is scheduled later this year.

'€œThe interpretation of Islam sparked fear in secularist and progressive ranks,'€ said Houda, who is also the wife of the Tunisian ambassador to Indonesia, Mourad Belhassen.

Tunisia was the birth place of the Arab Spring, when a people'€™s power movement deposed the secular dictator Zine el Abidene Ben Ali after 24 years in power. The event inspired other neighboring Arab countries to bring down their dictators.

The new constitution guarantees freedom of belief, consciousness and expression, Houda told the seminar on women emancipation, which was organized by the Tunisian Embassy in Jakarta.

Regarding general elections, the constitution requires gender parity, meaning that there must be equal number of women and men in the electoral list and also alternation, meaning that in the same list of candidates, a woman will be paired against a man.

Houda said there were concerns earlier that the Constitutional Assembly would remove many of the women'€™s rights in place since Tunisian independence in 1956 under the Code of Personal Status (CPS).

They include conferring women equal rights as men in deciding on marriage, divorce, the use of contraceptives and abortion. The code also sets the minimum age a girl can be married off by her parents.

The code also specifically bans polygamy, she said.

The new constitution, enacted through a democratic debate, reaffirmed Tunisia'€™s position as one of the most progressive societies among Arab nations, particularly when it comes to women'€™s rights.

Women account for more than half the doctors in Tunisia and nearly two thirds of the judicial profession, they are also entering into other professions like aviation and business.

Houda said women had a stake in the outcome of the Arab Spring, having taken a very active part in the movement.

'€œWe, women, marched down the streets pressing to oust the dictator,'€ she said. (put)