Written question asked by Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 13 January 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 18 January 2012. It was answered by Alistair Burt (Conservative) on Wednesday, 18 January 2012 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Libya: Females

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has (a) received on and (b) made to the Libyan authorities on the draft election law proposed by Libya's electoral commission allocating 10 per cent. of seats to women.

Answer: Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have been contacted by a number of non-governmental organisations to express concerns about the draft legislation. Our embassy in Tripoli has been in contact with the National Transitional Council (NTC) and a range of Libyan civil society representatives, including representatives of women's groups, about the terms of the draft electoral legislation, including the terms of the quota for women and how this would be implemented. A senior member of the NTC Election Committee confirmed to our ambassador on 11 January that the 10% quota contained within the current draft was a minimum rather than a limit. The UN Support Mission in Libya, with whom our embassy is in close touch, is supporting the NTC's Election Committee, offering technical advice and discussing how to take into account the many representations received by that Committee.

Secondary information