Kuwaiti women vote for first time

[Al-khiyal]

Kuwaiti women cast votes for the first time in a by-election for a municipal council seat, less than a year after winning full political rights in the oil-rich Gulf state.

Two women are among eight candidates running for the seat in the district of Salmiya, about 15 kilometres (10 miles) southeast of the capital.

"It's certainly a historical moment for me. I felt very happy while casting my vote," Afaf Abdullah, a pharmacist, told AFP outside a polling station.

"I had participated in cooperative society elections before, but the feeling here is totally different. I feel that justice has been achieved for Kuwaiti women."

Voting, which began slowly in the morning as Tuesday is a normal working day, picked up slightly in the afternoon but generally remained low.

Official figures showed that until 4:00 pm a 17 percent turnout was recorded with only 15 percent of eligible women voters, or about 2,500, having cast their ballots.

Voting was expected to pick up before ballots close at 8:00 pm.

The district has 28,000 eligible voters, 60 percent of whom are women, representing the Shiite minority, tribal voters and other Sunnis......

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[nouha]

good news to hear ...

[Al-khiyal]

Rula Dashti - "It's a dream come true...."

Five Kuwaiti women made history Thursday by becoming the first females to register as candidates for parliamentary elections, ending a 44-year-old ban on their political participation.

"It's a historic day. It's a dream come true and the actual beginning of Kuwaiti women's participation in public life," leading women's rights activist Rula Dashti said after filing her papers at the election department.

Registration opened on Thursday for the June 29 election in the oil-rich Gulf emirate which was called on Sunday in a bid to end a deep political crisis over an electoral reform bill.

"Today, we strengthen the role of women's participation in the political life," said Dashti, a holder of a doctorate in economics from the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in the United States and chairwoman of the Kuwaiti Economic Society.

She said she would focus her campaign on economic reforms, unemployment and combatting corruption.

Kuwaiti women, deprived of a political role since parliament was established in 1962, won the right to vote and run for public office in May last year in a historic vote by the assembly.

Two women contested a municipal council by-election in April, and one came second among eight candidates for the only seat.

"Today I feel that democracy has gained a second wing... We have tried men for long and it's time to give women the opportunity," journalist Aisha al-Rasheed said after registering her candidacy.

Rasheed, running in the district of Keifan, an Islamist stronghold, said she would focus on the issues of women "who have been ignored for four decades.

"I will fight for equality among the sexes in rights and duties."

The other three women candidates are Khaleda al-Khader, a holder of a doctorate in public health from the United States, Ghanima al-Haider, a professor at a local college and Taiba Ibrahim, a writer.

More women are expected to lodge their candidacies before registration expires on June 3.

Four of the five women candidates were waiting at the election department long before registration opened, before any male candidate arrived.

Registration took place in two separate offices in line with a law that requires segregation of the sexes, but the two offices were almost entirely staffed by women employees.....

Kuwaiti women launch historic election bid