Interview With Farah Karimi by Sepideh Abdi
After serving on the Dutch Parliament for three terms as the foreign policy spokeswoman for the Green Party, Farah Karimi decided not to run for Parliament this year. Instead, she plans to begin a new round of civil society activities. During her term as a Dutch MP, this Iranian-born woman played an active role in protecting the rights of immigrants, opposing war, and defending human rights all over the world (and especially in Iran). Karimi talked to Rooz about her political career and future plans. Below is an excerpt of that interview.
Rooz (R ): Many Iranian women are interested to know how you became a Dutch MP. What was the process like?
Farah Karimi (FK): I found my way into the parliament after only 9 years of coming into this country, as a political refugee who did not speak any Dutch either. I learned the language after getting here in 1989 and studied international relations. I began working with the Dutch Green Party in 1991. In 1994, I began working for an NGO that oversaw foreign women?s rights and managed a project for them. Finally, in 1997, I joined the Green Party and was immediately promoted into the party?s leadership council. In that same year I was elected to the parliament as a Green Party candidate.
R: How do you evaluate the experience you gained by being in the parliament?
FK: Serving as the Green Party?s foreign policy spokeswoman for eight and a half years was a great experience for me in terms of getting a better understanding of the rules governing a democratic society. The thing that I found to be the most educating is the openness of the political system in the Netherlands. It gives newcomers an opportunity to integrate into society and have a say in their social and political lives.
R: What do you mean by ?openness? of the political system in Netherlands?
FK: Aside from the fact that one can become a citizen after only 5 years (and hence be eligible for serving on the parliament), political parties play a central role in picking out the appropriate candidates. It is the parties that decide what the requirements are for being a candidate; the government and other public institutions have a minimal influence on the process. As a result, some parties have provided women with good opportunities to become candidates. The Green Party is one such party which picks at least 50 percent of its candidates from women. Like other progressive leftist parties, the Green Party helps many foreign-born citizens become elected (in general, the ratio of foreign-born MP?s is high in the Dutch parliament. For instance, nearly 10 percent of the MP?s in the last parliament were foreign born). In fact, it was the Dutch Green Party that helped the first foreign-born woman get elected into the parliament in 1994. The totality of these opportunities for women and foreign-born citizens enabled me to enter the Dutch Parliament and defend the my ideals in the country that I was living in.
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