Kuwaiti Women Vote

Now this is wonderful news out of the Middle East!

The Beeb reports:

Polling is taking place in a Kuwaiti council by-election in which women are allowed to vote for the first time.

Two women are also among eight candidates running for the seat in the Salmiya district, south of the capital.

The 28,000 eligible voters, 60% of whom are women, are voting in segregated polling booths, a condition demanded by Islamist and tribal MPs.

Women were granted equal political rights last year and will vote in full legislative polls in 2007.

….

Women voters quoted by news agencies reflected the years of frustration which this election finally dispels.

"They have given us some attention. We became equal," said voter Iman al-Issa talking to AP.

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

Read it here.

You go girls! Slowly but surely the tide is turning.

Picture – Jenan Boushehri, a chemical engineer and one of the two female candidates for office. Hell, I’d vote for her!

UPDATE:

Reuters reports that neither of the woman candidates was elected, but that they're not discouraged.

"The outcome won't depress us," women's rights activist and writer Laila al-Othman told Reuters.

"We're full of hope, ambition and determination for women to have a role ... this is the first political experience for women and it's a harbinger of good things to come."

One of the female candidates, Khaledah al-Khadher, blamed low turnout among women for the result. State news agency KUNA put turnout at 38 percent and newspapers said random polls showed many women had backed male candidates.

"In the end, this is a great day for women after 40 years of struggle," Khadher said. The 48-year-old doctor and mother of eight secured about 80 votes, compared to Suwaileh's 5,436.

Read it here.

Hmmm. There seems to be a disconnect here between the activists and the woman voters, many of whom sat out the election or supported male candidates. Another reminder, as if we needed one, of the fact that those who claim to speak for women don't. They only represent the interests of some women.