patient shall be referred or forced to enter the psychiatric hospital, except by the decision of the Minister, accompanied by a recommendation from the medical competent committee. The patient is not admitted to the hospital, unless his/her condition necessitates that through treatments available only in the hospital. In this connection, the following observations were recorded: 1. Personal integrity is followed-up and various medical treatments are prescribed, provided that the relevant diagnosis is accepted, whether by the persons with disabilities or others. 2. Persons with psychological illness are optionally admitted to hospitals based on personal desire, except in the event that the patient may cause harm to himself/ herself and to others under certain conditions. Eighth: Participation in Public and Political Life The practical reality of the election and nomination process indicates low level of participation of persons with disabilities, whether as voters or candidates, for a number of reasons. The most prominent of such reasons is the lack of interest of persons with disabilities themselves to participate in these elections, particularly parliamentary elections. The number of persons with disabilities who nominated themselves for the parliamentary elections in the previous elections was one candidate, who obtained four votes. However, in the recent parliamentary elections, five persons with disabilities ran for elections, three of which with visual disabilities and two with physical disabilities, but none of them was lucky to win. The participation in elections is a participatory approach to decision-making process and must be expressed and participated by various segments of 27