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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elroy who wrote (222473)	3/7/2005 10:11:28 AM
From: Elroy	Respond to of 1574888

Meanwhile, news of the day...... gulfnews.com Kuwaitis demonstrate for women's suffrage Kuwait : Around 500 Kuwaiti activists, mostly women, demonstrated outside parliament today to demand female suffrage amidst tensions over a government drive to grant women political rights. "Women's rights now," chanted the crowd, which included women dressed in abayas, or traditional long black cloaks. Some of the demonstrators wore veils over their faces. "Our democracy will only be complete with women," said a placard written in Arabic. "We are not less, you are not more. We need a balance, open the door," said one written in English. The crowd was later allowed to enter parliament to attend a session expected to discuss a government request to expedite a state-backed bill granting women full political rights. The all-male assembly is also scheduled to discuss a motion filed recently by 10 liberal and independent MPs to refer the country's election law to the Constitutional Court to rule on an article limiting voting rights and candidacy to males over 21. Kuwait's constitution stipulates gender equality, but parliament has blocked previous government attempts to give women suffrage. "I am very optimistic this time around that we will get our rights because ministers and deputies are working for this," said 55-year-old Mariam al-Jassar, a retired civil servant and mother of seven. "Islam does not deny women's rights," she told Reuters. "Since the 1960s, parliament has done nothing for us. They just pack their bags in the summer and go on vacation." US-allied Kuwait proposed legislation last May allowing women to vote and run in parliamentary polls after a previous attempt in 1999 was shot down by Islamist and tribal lawmakers. Kuwaiti newspapers said Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah had threatened to dissolve parliament if it failed to approve the latest bill. Several Islamic MPs said last year they would back allowing women to vote but not run in elections. A government minister has said the parliament could view the suffrage bill in March. "For 40 years we have been demanding our rights. They are claiming that this is a democratic country," Lulwa Al Qatami, a long-time activist, told Reuters. Washington has been pressing its allies in the Middle East to bring in political reforms, saying lack of freedom and democracy have fostered violent Islamic militancy. Kuwaiti women serve as diplomats, run businesses, lead the humanitarian and education sectors and help steer oil and banking industries. But in other Gulf states, such as Bahrain and Qatar, women can already vote and stand for election.