Bangla2000 | International News - Is Kuwait still in the 19th century?

Kuwaiti women lawyers Sarah al-Duaij, right, and Faridah Dashti, left, talk to journalists at the constitutional court Tuesday, July 4, 2000, after the top court rejected a plea by the emirate's disenfranchised women to enjoy the same political rights as their male counterparts and the right to vote. Man behind is unidentified. (AP Photo)

KUWAIT (AP) - Kuwait's highest tribunal on Tuesday refused to rule on four cases that could have led to granting women the right to vote and run for office.

The five-judge panel of the Constitutional Court headed by Judge Mohammad al-Rifai did not immediately explain why the cases were rejected. Typically, the court issues explanations a week after making a ruling.

Government lawyers had argued the court should throw out the cases because they were "incorrectly referred" to it. Farida Dashti, one of the plaintiffs, was teary eyed Tuesday as she speculated the cases had been rejected for technical reasons. But she said once the reasons were clear, activists would use them to guide them in making another challenge.

"We are not giving up," added another plaintiff, Rola Dashti. The two women are not related.

All four cases, which were similar, were referred to the Constitutional Court by lower administrative and elections tribunals.

Women's rights activists took their cause to courts after the country's all-male Parliament voted down a suffrage bill and an identical decree by the emir, Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah. Those twin setbacks to women's rights came late last year. The plaintiffs argued the 1962 elections law is unconstitutional because it bars women from voting and running for office even though the constitution, established the same year, gives equal rights to both sexes.

In an organized protest in February, hundreds of women went to voter registration offices to add their names to voter lists. They were turned down as they expected, but they used the refusal to launch their court cases against election officials.

Fundamentalist Muslim and conservative tribal lawmakers have joined forces to defeat suffrage bills. They believe it is improper to allow women and men to mix freely, especially in election campaigns.

Although women in Kuwait have never been part of the political scene, they can work, drive and travel alone - unlike their counterparts in other countries in the region. Women hold senior government positions, including rector of the state Kuwait University.

Women had hoped to vote in elections held last July in Kuwait for the Arab Gulf's only elected Parliament. Rola Dashti said Tuesday she was confident women would have the vote before the next elections, due in 2003.