DOHA: The leadership of Syria’s main opposition group in exile is an all-male affair after elections failed to promote a single woman to the decision-making group of 41 members.

Some of the female delegates at the Syrian National Council (SNC) conference in the Qatari capital of Doha rushed the podium in protest after the results were announced in the early hours of Thursday.

They said the new leadership fails to reflect the key role of women in the push to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad.

On at least this point, the SNC appeared to fall short in its attempt to showcase a new diversity in the face of international criticism that it is not representative enough of the whole spectrum of the opposition.

After the vote by more than 400 members of the SNC’s general assembly, the group tried to redress the lack of women in its new leadership.

SNC chief Abdel Basset Sayda said he was “so sad” and would try to add four women to the general secretariat by decree.

The women’s marginal role in the SNC is in marked contrast to their active participation in the 19-month-old conflict.