“Just by being placed in a region like Sistan and Baluchestan for my people, where women work better than men, is enough for me. Now, in many places, they tell me to find someone like myself for the next round so that this region can have two female representatives.”

This sentence is part of the conversation of Haleme Ali, representative of the people of Zabol, Zahak and Hirmand in the parliament, who has told the ISNA news agency. Such phrases are usually of great interest to advocates of women’s presence in parliament and managerial positions.

Halimeh Ali, 45 years old, is a specialist in internal medicine and is fluent in English. In Esfand 90, she was lucky enough to be allowed to compete in the second round of elections in the cities of Zabol, Zahak, and Hirmand. In Ordibehesht 91, she was able to win 70,000 votes from the people and enter the parliament. She was the first female representative of her city and Sistan and Baluchestan province.

During the ninth parliamentary elections, out of 48 candidates in the city of Zabol, three were women. This was the first time that women were qualified and entered the field of elections, a step forward. The people’s vote for Halimeh Ali was also met with widespread media coverage and political support, another step forward.

Before becoming a member of parliament, she was a faculty member at Zabol University of Medical Sciences and also worked at Zabol Hospital. Halimeh Ali is a conservative woman. She grew up in a large religious family, her brother was killed in war and she is considered part of the “martyr family”. Her brother was killed at the age of 19, and they are known as a famous “Shia family” in the Sistan region. Her husband, who is a soil scientist, is a government official and is considered part of the “government family”. During the 91 election campaign, she did not publish a photo of herself on her election posters. It can be said that she comes from a “conservative family”. She and her husband have a good financial situation due to their specialized job positions. Their family of five is considered a “wealthy family”. This parliament member is considered part of the “system family” culturally. She goes to parliament wearing a ch

Although he took back his vote during the impeachment of the reformist Minister of Science, in general, Ali does not have a good relationship with the reformists. When he first entered parliament, he was mostly focused on his own local concerns, but gradually he was drawn into the world of politics and took positions on political issues such as the 88 elections, Ahmadinejad’s performance, and some of the reformists. Recently, Halimeh Ali has joined forces with a group of conservative women to form a conservative women’s political front. She is part of the “conservative family”. She supports a group of conservatives who do not have a good relationship with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ali was one of the 76 representatives in parliament who signed the motion to question Ahmadinejad. In general, she has been a critic of the government and has been strongly critical of Hassan Rouhani’s government, repeatedly complaining about the government’s failure to fulfill its promises. Her main criticisms have been about the

Halimeh Ali, despite having a strong speaking ability and being a skilled speaker, has usually been silent in parliament. During the vote of confidence for Ali Rabiei, the proposed Minister of Labor, Welfare, and Social Affairs, her name was announced as a supporter, but ultimately her place was given to one of the male representatives in parliament. In the past year, she has become even quieter, not even speaking about local issues, and there is no sign of her initial enthusiasm. Halimeh Ali is also a member of the Health and Treatment Commission in parliament due to her educational background. However, she is not active in this commission and is usually among the silent members. Local media in Sistan have repeatedly complained that she does not even follow up on health and treatment issues in this region, especially in terms of providing special support services for women.

However, in media conversations, she has welcomed approaches such as the selection of female managers in Sistan and Baluchestan province, and has called for attention to specialized women. But in her practical and persistent programs, there is no sign of pursuing women’s issues.

Let’s examine a specific example. The establishment of a free zone in Zabol has been a serious concern for Halimeh Ali. She sees this project as a housing solution for the sick region. She has conducted at least 10 interviews, repeatedly raised the issue in parliament, written letters to Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, and invited one of the poets during Rouhani’s visit to her city. She has also requested to write a poem for this project and pursued it in her repeated meetings with government officials. In the four-year evaluation of Halimeh Ali’s performance in the field of women, no issue or important project regarding women in Sistan or Zabol can be found that has been followed up on even one percent. It cannot be said that these concerns have the same level, but it can be said that in Halimeh Ali’s priorities, women’s issues in Sistan and

Over the past two years, under the influence of President Hassan Rouhani’s policies, the number of female managers in the Sistan and Baluchestan region has increased and it can now be said that a small circle of senior female managers has been formed in this province. It is unlikely that the newly appointed female managers will have a desirable political taste, and there is also no news about holding meetings or consultations with this spectrum of women or forming an executive and advisory circle. However, she has shown a positive reaction to these appointments and considers them a sign of social and political transformation in the Sistan and Baluchestan province, but it is not clear what she has done to make optimal use of this new space. While in New York, Ali had called for the formation of a network among female parliamentarians, which could have been implemented as a desirable idea at the provincial level in Sistan and Baluchestan. It seems that Halimeh Ali does not have such an idea

Her disregard for women’s issues is not limited to her electoral district. Even at a national level, Haleh Ali is considered a seasoned and mature political figure, but not a successful representative. She believes, “Unfortunately, men never want women to be active in certain positions… One of the male representatives told me, ‘You were a specialist doctor, and you’re also wealthy, so why did you come to the parliament?’ My response was, ‘Isn’t everything about money?'”

She also has a belief about her track record for women: “We have really struggled for initiatives such as flexible working hours for women, reducing women’s working hours, maternity leave, and women’s employment laws.” But her track record is not as clear as she claims. One of the most important bills she was involved in passing was the Family Support Law, which, due to issues such as temporary marriage, ended up being a step backwards. Like other conservative women in the parliament, she also agrees with the segregation

Halimeh Ali, in response to Faizeh Hashemi’s statements that the situation of women before the revolution was better than after the revolution, said that these words are baseless and the situation of women has greatly improved in the post-revolution era. Perhaps Halimeh Ali is looking for an example of herself or newly appointed managers, but does this choice or her presence in the parliament mean an improvement in the situation of women in Sistan and Baluchestan? In fact, it is possible that in two months, in the tenth parliamentary elections, she will use her image on her campaign posters, taking a step forward, but what can she present in her performance report on the situation of women in Zabol in the past four years, two steps back?