Frozan Fana (born 1969) was a candidate in the

2009 Afghan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Afghanistan on 20 August 2009. The election resulted in victory for incumbent Hamid Karzai, who won 49.67% of the vote, while his main rival Abdullah Abdullah finished second with 30.59% of the vote. The e ...

. Her running mate was Mohammad Nasim Darmand. She had never held political office before. However, she is the widow of

Abdul Rahman Abd al-Rahman ( ar, عبد الرحمن, translit=ʿAbd al-Raḥmān or occasionally ; DMG ''ʿAbd ar-Raḥman''; also Abdul Rahman) is a male Arabic Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', '' ...

, the assassinated Afghan Aviation Minister. Fana is an

Orthopaedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

. Fana was criticized for using campaign posters that had her picture on it. One other woman was a candidate for president in 2009, Shahla Atta. She was already a member of the

Wolesi Jirga The House of Representatives of the People, or Da Afghanistan Wolesi Jirga ( ps, دَ افغانستان ولسي جرګه), was the lower house of the bicameral National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, alongside the upper ...

, Afghanistan's National Legislature. After

Massouda Jalal xDr. Massouda Jalal (داکتر مسعوده جلال) is the first woman in the history of Afghanistan who ran for the Office of the President of Afghanistan in 2002, and again in 2004. She holds the distinction of being the first woman to compe ...

came sixth out of eighteen presidential candidates in 2004 then President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

appointed her

Afghan Women's Affairs Minister Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) (, ) was a ministry in the Afghan government which was established in late 2001 by the Afghan Interim Administration. MOWA was the lead agency for promoting women's rights and advancement in Afghanista ...

. According to Rosie DiManno, writing in the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', Fana had difficulty campaigning due to her gender. Fana described being ignored by security officials, when asked for security details when she scheduled public meetings, so much of her campaign revolved around inviting guests to her home. DiManno described Fana's concerns that her husband had been murdered by elements within Karzai's administration, who saw him as a potential candidate for president. DiManno quoted Fana on the difficulties Fana enoountered acting as high-profile woman who could serve as a role-model to other women: ''"These men don't even want me to practise as a doctor. There is so much risk for women, so much violence against them in their own homes. Who cares? Not the men in power. They do nothing.'' Preliminary voting results placed Fana eighth in a field of thirty-two. The 8,159 votes for Fana represented less than 0.5% of the total votes cast.

References

External links

www.frozan.org/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fana, Frozan Members of the House of the People (Afghanistan) Living people Year of birth uncertain 1969 births 21st-century Afghan women politicians 21st-century Afghan politicians