Kuwait approves draft law giving women the vote
http://www.jordantimes.com/mon/news/news7.htm

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's Cabinet approved a draft law on Sunday allowing
women to vote and run in
parliamentary polls, moving them a step closer to full political rights they
have sought for decades
in the conservative Gulf Arab state.

The draft needs parliament's approval to pass into law. A decree issued by Emir
Sheikh Jaber Al
Ahmed Al Sabah giving women the vote was narrowly defeated in the 50-man house
in 1999 by an
alliance of Islamist and conservative tribal MPs.

Kuwaiti women have been fighting for suffrage for more than 40 years, only to be
blocked by
Islamists and male politicians.

"The council (of ministers) decided to approve the draft law and transfer it to
the Emir, God
protect him, in order to transfer it to the National Assembly," a Cabinet
statement said.

The current parliament in OPEC member Kuwait was elected in July by an elite
group of males who must
be 21 years or older and not recently naturalised or members of the armed
forces.

The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, the emir's
brother, has made clear
it is committed to political and economic reforms in Kuwait, which has one-tenth
of global oil
reserves.

US-allied Kuwait says that pressing ahead with reforms is a top priority as the
country promotes
itself as a modern investor-friendly nation after the toppling in a US-led war
last year of former
occupier and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Leading women's rights activist, Dr Fatima Al Abdali, welcomed the news, adding
that the issue of
refusing women the vote was "sabotaging Kuwait's image internationally."

Islamist and conservative MPs, who wield great influence in parliament, are
opposed to Western
influences and may prove to be a stumbling block in the face of the new draft.

"I'm hopeful," Abdali said. "If this bill is serious and is not just a fight
between the Islamist
bloc and the democratic bloc, I think women can quickly gain everyone's
confidence."

Progress across the region

Regarded by some as among the most emancipated in the conservative Muslim
region, Kuwaiti women have
had to sit back and watch their sisters in other Gulf states - such as Qatar,
Bahrain and Oman -
make modest progress.

Kuwaiti women serve as diplomats, run businesses and help steer the vital oil
industry in the
country of 900,000 citizens.

They constitute up to 70 per cent of college graduates in Kuwait, but account
for less than five per
cent of the country's decision makers. Some have moved up to mid-level public
ranks, but none holds
a top post such as government minister.

Signs of change came last October when the government approved allowing women to
stand for office
and vote in municipal council elections, a move observers hailed then as a first
step towards
granting women greater political rights.

"Kuwaiti women, yes, they want this. Especially the young generation, those in
the universities,"
Abdali told Reuters. "This generation already has active bodies that elect
themselves in schools and
universities."

The Kuwaiti Cabinet said its decision was "in appreciation for the vital role
that the Kuwaiti woman
plays in building and developing Kuwaiti society, and her big sacrifices and the
responsible role
she has played in the face of all the challenges the country has been subjected
to in its history."

Monday, May 17, 2004