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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (104392)	5/17/2005 11:19:32 AM
From: arno	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

in case you missed it... Kuwaiti Women Get the Vote Omar Hasan, Agence France Presse — KUWAIT CITY, 17 May 2005 — Kuwaiti women were yesterday granted the right to vote and stand in elections, under a historic amendment to the Gulf emirate’s election law that triggered celebrations outside Parliament. Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah told reporters in Parliament that he planned to name a woman minister. “God willing, it will be soon. Now we have the right to appoint women in the government,” he said. “Thank God... that women got their political rights,” the premier said. “I congratulate the women of Kuwait for having achieved their political rights.” Kuwaiti women now join their counterparts from Gulf neighbors Qatar, Oman and Bahrain in having the vote. The amendment, which was finalized after several years of debate and struggle by Kuwaiti women, passed by a vote of 35 MPs for, including 14 ministers, 23 against and one abstention. It was opposed by Islamist and tribal legislators. The result, announced by Parliament Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi, was greeted with thunderous applause from the public gallery who also sang Kuwait’s national anthem. Women activists and their supporters came out of the Parliament building cheering the result, some in disbelief. They sang and danced in the Parliament’s yard. “This is a historic moment. It’s difficult for me to speak,” said activist Fatima Al-Abdali, who was in tears. “Today, it was a victory for democracy ... the day of completing democracy in Kuwait.” The final vote came after a nine-hour heated debate during which anti-women MPs tried to block the vote after realizing the government had a sufficient majority to pass the amendment. But they succeeded in passing an addition to the amendment requiring Kuwaiti women who take part in the elections “to comply with regulations dictated by Islamic Shariah law”, without explaining the nature of those guidelines. “I am overexcited. I can’t believe this,” said activist Rola Dashti, who said she would run in the next parliamentary election, in 2007. “I’m starting my campaign as of today.” Dashti said she was not concerned by the reference to Shariah law, saying it probably just meant separate polling stations and not an Islamic dress code. “They can’t impose veils on voters,” she said. Hard-line MP Waleed Al-Tabtabai said “this vote is against the will of the Kuwaiti people... It aims at changing the identity of the society.” Islamist and tribal legislators had fiercely campaigned against women’s suffrage on the grounds that Islamic teachings bar women from participating in political life. The amendment of Article 1 of the electoral law automatically allows women to vote and run for both the municipal council and Parliament. The article, dating to 1962, limited the right to vote to men. It was deemed out of step with the emirate’s constitution which stipulates equality of the sexes. The amendment will increase the number of eligible voters in Kuwait from the current 145,000 males to more than 350,000 people, or 37 percent of Kuwait’s native population of 956,000. On May 3, Kuwait’s all-male Parliament failed to approve a bill that would have allowed women to vote and stand for election in time for municipal elections due to take place later this year. arabnews.com