KUWAIT, 29 October 2004 — Disenfranchised Kuwaiti women are a step closer to the right to vote after a change of heart by Islamist politicians previously opposed to them having any say in politics.
The compromise by the Islamist parliamentarians, who wield strong influence in the 50-man house, does not extend to accepting the more controversial part of a government proposal, which would also allow women to stand for political office.
“We will support the right (for women) to vote. Running for political office is not yet a ‘No’ but has been referred to consultations with Muslim scholars,” said Islamist MP Naser Al-Sane, who in the past vetoed women’s right to vote.
Kuwaiti women have been pressing for years for a greater political say by holding seminars and debates. Kuwait is also eager to show the outside world that it can modernize.
Sane said he had dropped his objection after concluding that women voting in an election did not violate the Shariah.
“The issue was revised, we realized that the reason for not allowing women to vote was more linked to traditions rather than the Shariah, so we decided to support the vote and set some restrictions,” he said.
In 1999 Emir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah issued a bill granting women the right to vote and stand for office, but it was defeated in Parliament.
In his policy speech to Parliament this week, the emir urged deputies to endorse the proposal in 2004. He said Kuwaiti women should have the right to a voice and a role in politics.
Although the constitution pledges freedom and equality for all, women have no vote and cannot become ministers or deputies. The highest-ranking women are assistant undersecretaries. They cannot become diplomats, judges or prosecutors.
Helped by the oil boom in the 1940s and a history of higher education abroad, Kuwaiti women enjoy greater freedom than some of their counterparts in neighboring Gulf states. They marched into the workplace in the 1950s when they started obtaining university degrees from abroad.
Kuwait’s Parliament, the first in the Gulf, is dominated by Islamists and tribal MPs who are against women’s rights.
But officials and diplomats say the government is determined to see the proposal through this year. They say Kuwait is anxious to demonstrate, above all to its ally and protector the United States, that it is in the vanguard of change in the Gulf. Neighboring emirates such as Bahrain and Qatar have already given the vote and sometimes office to women.
Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabae said his bloc would endorse voting rights but unanimously oppose women running for office, urging the government to separate the two. He said Islam does not allow women to hold public political office.
