Liht: From right to vote to conquest of all other rights

BELGRADE - President of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence Sonja Liht said on the occasion of the 2014 International Women’s Day that women in Serbian need to excercise their voting rights in the upcoming elections, because it is the first step towards winning all other rights.

“This is a powerful message that citizens do care about who represents them and that female citizens will not stop participating in the political life. Nobody will stand up for us, we have to stand up for ourselves and convince the whole of society that only when women have the same rights and responsibilities (as men) can we talk about a democratic and developed society,” Liht told Tanjug after the end of a pre-election convention in Belgrade, titled "I vote for women,” which brought together women politicians from ten electoral lists.

Liht, whose non-governmental organization organized a similar women's convention just before the last elections, said that the fact that the last parliament’s term saw the setting up of a women’s parliamentary network will long stay inscribed in large letters in the history of Serbian parliamentarism.

“Now we are a step closer to what any decent society should aspire – for men and women to share responsibilities on equal terms,” Liht said, adding that only a society guaranteeing equal rights can cope with the problems of violence against women, unemployment among female population and brain-drain.

Photo Tanjug, video

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