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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Living Features Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Kuwaiti women win franchise
By Sherine BahaaThe decree giving women the vote and allowing them to stand as candidates in parliamentary and municipal elections in 2003 was issued by Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah last week and has sparked off fierce debate in the tiny Gulf state. The commonest question in Kuwaiti diwaniyas is "why now?" Other comments include "better late than never", given by Ali Al-Baghli, a former MP and a candidate in the forthcoming elections.
Reaction from the women themselves has been positive. Those who were cordially received in audience by the Emir last Monday expressed their gratitude for his action.
The women who attended the gathering were dressed in Western clothes and not the traditional long black gowns and veils of their conservative sisters. The decree was greeted with delight by many prominent feminists, among whom was Sheikha Al-Nusifa, head of the Feminists Social Cultural Society.
She talked to Al-Ahram Weekly a few hours after her meeting with the Kuwaiti Emir. "We have been waiting for this decision since the founding of our Society in 1963. We always expected that women should regain their political rights. The obstacle was the different trends within our National Assembly which prevented such a decision ever being debated," said Nusifa. Indeed there are a list of women's issues which need discussing and solving. "By getting the right to vote and hold office Kuwaiti women will be in a better position to express their views both in the parliament and eventually in the government."
Kuwaiti women's struggle to gain their political rights has always been a long and determined one but success has always eluded them. Liberal lawmakers have been proposing "women's rights" bills since 1971, but none were ever approved. Sheikh Jaber himself, during his seven-month exile (1990-91) in Jeddah when Iraq occupied Kuwait, declared that he would consider giving women the vote in the future. Western allies have reminded the government since the liberation of this promise particularly since the restoration of parliamentary life in 1992. "Politics seemed to be a series of manoeuvers by Kuwaitis to improve their image among their Gulf neighbours," said one Western observer.
The coming 3 July elections are the third in a period of seven years. The latest Assembly was dissolved before its term was up because it "was known more for squabbling than passing laws". The Emiri decree giving women the vote was issued under Article 71 of the constitution which allows the Emir to issue decrees when the National Assembly is not in session but when "necessity calls for urgent measures". However, Kuwaiti figures on both sides of the political spectrum showed surprise at the decree as women's rights were not a pressing issue and the matter will only come into effect in 2003: in other words, hardly a pressing matter.
There is nothing in the Kuwaiti constitution barring women from voting as it guarantees equal status to both sexes, but the 1962 election law discriminates against women. The decree was amended last Sunday by the Kuwaiti cabinet which excised the word "male" from the first clause of the constitution thus opening the way for full political representation for women.
Kuwaiti women, seen as the Gulf region's most liberated, run businesses and newspapers, head diplomatic missions and help steer the country's vital oil industry. They make up about 30 per cent of Kuwait's workforce.
Prospects for women's political rights depend largely on the results of the 3 July elections. If Kuwaiti men elect an assembly with a large pro-government bloc and enough liberals, the decree would be easily adopted and pass into law. This would eventually mean the doubling of Kuwait's electorate from the current 113,000 eligible voters. "I am still mean enough, however, to wish the prompt dissolution of the next parliament to further speed up our participation. We have waited this long and now I can not wait four more years," a jubilant woman said after meeting the Emir.
"It depends on the make-up of the next Assembly, but this decree could face strong opposition however, the fact that it is an Emiri decree gives it greater weight and increases the chances of its endorsement by [the next Assembly]," Buthaina Al-Moqahwi, a clinical psychologist who has done her own research into the status of women, told the Weekly.
According to Al-Moqahwi, such a law would not pass if it were presented to the parliament by the government as a draft bill "owing to the conservative trends within the parliament". Al-Moqahwi was referring to the Islamist parties which are made up mostly of tribesmen.
The Islamist movements are up in arms over the decision. They claimed the constitution and religion had been violated and that households will be disrupted. The Salaf group as well as the Sunni Islamist group cited fatwas and religious edicts issued in recent years by various Islamic institutions as authority for women not being allowed to vote or stand in elections.
Shi'ites voiced a different point of view. Sayed Mohamed Mihri, a leading Shi'ite clergyman, backed the right of women to vote "but we have reservations about granting them the right to run for elections". However, Sheikha Nusifa is optimistic that the all-male parliament will approve the decree. "We have great hopes. First because it is an Emiri decree, and also because the cabinet and most organisations welcomed the step. And I think that religious groups will follow. They are objecting now but they will yield."
According to Nusifa, the stance of the religious groups is mostly political not religious. "We are not the only Islamic country in the region where women have these rights. There is Pakistan, Iran, Tunis and Egypt!" Nusifa also noted that the Emiri decree is not subject to modification. "The parliament either accepts it as it is, or rejects the whole thing. Islamists have already started to retreat. They have accepted the right of women to vote but are still reluctant to accept women running for office."
