This evening I had the honour of spending two and a half hours with Toujan Faisal. The first woman elected to the Jordanian parliament, and a tireless campaigner for democracy, she is charismatic, intelligent and truly inspirational.
Her insights into Middle East politics are both startling and accurate, revealing and analytical. She realises the value of participating in elections and has fought the corruption of the political system at every turn. She has had an apostasy case brought against her, been imprisoned, gone on hunger strike, and put her life on the line for her cause on several occasions.
Such is the strength of her ideas that even the Islamists, who brought the apostasy case against her and are her political opposites, now want to use her platform for reform.
I have always been passionate about women's political participation but from her I learnt that while there is corruption, it doesn't matter who is in power. Democracy is the only way to ensure everyone has a voice, and until democracy is in place women's voices will not be heard unless they sink to the level of the men who have gone before them.
She reminded me of the proverb:
"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."
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