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Change Your Life! |
Kuwait needs a 'Susan B Anthony' |
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July 30, 2000
KUWAIT (AP) - Five liberal lawmakers proposed a bill Saturday that grants women the right to vote and run for office, hoping this latest attempt will pass the all-male Parliament. "We expect good results. ... We trust that some of our colleagues will change their position," Sami al-Munayes, one of the five legislators, told The Associated Press. Late last year, the house rejected a suffrage bill in a 32-30 vote, just one week after lawmakers killed an identical decree by the emir, Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah. "This is a constitutional right," al-Munayes said. The 1962 constitution of this small oil-rich state gives equal rights to men and women, but the election law of the same year bars women from politics. Women activists have recently taken their case to courts, but their efforts have not yet been successful. Sunni fundamentalist Muslims and conservative tribal representatives in the house have joined forces to fight women's political rights. They believe women should not be mixing freely with men especially at election campaigns and should take care of their homes and families instead. Muslims belonging to the Shiite sect approve of suffrage, and all except one of their lawmakers in the house voted for last year's bill which was supported by Westernized liberals and Cabinet members. The proposed bill will be scheduled for debate after the 50-seat house returns from its summer recess in late October. The bill argues that women in all Arab and Muslim nations with legislatures vote and run for office. It also says Kuwaiti women are educated and work as university teachers and high-ranking officials and therefore should not be excluded from politics. |