KUWAIT CITY, 17 May 2008 — Kuwaiti women participating in parliamentary elections today for only the second time in the history of this Gulf state hope to improve on their performance in 2006 when they failed to win any seats.
Women in the small Gulf nation first gained the right to vote and run for public office in 2005, but they say the odds are still stacked against them.
Only one of the 27 women competing in the current elections — the same number that ran in 2006 — is supported by a political group. There are no officially recognized political parties in Kuwait, but informal groups provide critical campaign support. “Male culture still dominates our society,” said activist Aisha Al-Rsheid. “(Male) candidates address women issues only to get their votes” and then forget about them.
Women make up about 55 percent of the more than 360,000 people eligible to vote in Kuwait, but many experts say the success of women candidates is limited because their male relatives control how they vote, especially in remote Bedouin areas. “Women failed in the first elections. They proved they were followers,” said political analyst Ayed Al-Manna. “They are not any closer to realizing their dream.”
But women candidates running in the current elections say they are not deterred. One is a science fiction writer who preaches separation of religion and politics and another wears a veil and is worried about the effect of Western culture on Kuwaiti children.
Women candidates hope that they will be better prepared this time around since the 2006 election occurred only a year after they first were able to run for office. In both cases, Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, called the elections after disbanding the Parliament because of tension with the Cabinet.
Khawla Al-Ateeqi, a veteran women’s rights activist and an Islamist, recently told hundreds of people at a political rally that women should use one of the four votes they get in a district for a woman candidate. “Let’s give one to a relative, one to a friend, one to a party or a tribe and one to a woman,” said Al-Ateeqi.
Under Kuwait’s new election law, the country is divided into five districts that each send 10 people to the 50-seat Parliament. Each person is allowed to vote for four people in a district.
Ali Al-Nutaifi said he opposed the idea that women should vote for women candidates simply based on their gender. “If a woman deserves my vote, I will give it to her,” said Al-Nutaifi. But he acknowledged that many Kuwaitis were still reluctant to vote for a woman.
Some citizens are calling on Parliament to impose a quota that would guarantee women a certain number of seats in the legislature. But the proposals have not gained much momentum and are opposed by many women who say they do not want any handouts. The government has appointed two women as Cabinet members since 2005. One resigned as health minister in 2007 following a hospital fire and a second managed to survive a vote of no confidence earlier this year as the education minister.
At a recent seminar on women and elections, longtime activist Kawthar Al-Joaan called on less accomplished women candidates to withdraw from the upcoming elections, so that people could concentrate their votes on those who have the best chance to win.
Khalida Al-Khader, who is running for the second time, believes both men and women now have more confidence in women candidates. “This time women and men will vote for women,” said the physician, who wears a head scarf.
Al-Khader came in eighth place in 2006, getting only 381 votes compared with the 3,691 that the man who won first place in the district received. She said she had to sell land to finance her last campaign but will spare no expense until she wins a seat in Parliament.
“This time, I sold shares (of stock),” said Al-Khader. “I still have a beach house and a house to sell.”
