Asia-Pacific

Women vote in Kuwait for the first time

(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-29 20:16

But discontent with the new political rights of women simmers. Aisha al-Rsheid, a journalist and businesswoman running in a stronghold of Muslim fundamentalists, had her campaign posters defaced. Side burns, mustaches and goatees were drawn on her smiling face, and one poster was scrawled with, "We don't want you, old woman."

Saudi Arabia is now the only Arab country that holds elections but doesn't allow women to vote.

Kuwait has been a key U.S. partner in the Middle East since American troops drove Iraq from the small, wealthy country during the 1991 Gulf War. Kuwait hosts thousands of U.S. troops who deploy to Iraq and serve as a regional security buffer.

During the campaign, reformist candidates -- who include both Islamic fundamentalists and secular activists -- spoke out harshly against corruption, accusing ministers and even members of the ruling family of mismanagement and wasting state land.

The emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, at one point expressed his "deep hurt and dismay" over what he called the "low level of dialogue" in the campaign, but the government did not attempt to clamp down on the criticism.

Kuwait's parliament has long broken down along lines of tribal affiliation or Islamists and liberals. Many expect it will now be reshaped, at least temporarily, along the divide between reformists and government supporters.

"We are proud of this day that proves there is democracy in this country," said Ali Thnayyan al-Ghanem, the head of the powerful Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as he waited to vote at a men's polling station. "I am optimistic reformists will win a large number of seats."

The debate started over a dispute over redrawing the country's 25 electoral precincts. The Cabinet sought to cut the number of constituencies to 10, but a bloc of 29 lawmakers wanted them reduced to five, saying larger precincts would minimize vote-buying and voting for members of the same tribe or religious sect.

The lawmakers, backed by thousands of young men and women who protested in the streets, accused the government of procrastination and lack of seriousness about political reform. They stormed out when the Cabinet introduced its 10-contituency proposal.

The emir, worried the dispute was threatening national unity, dissolved parliament in late May and called for an early election. The vote originally was scheduled for mid-2007.

Emirs have dissolved parliament four times since it was created in 1962, sometimes leaving the country without a legislature for years. Each dissolution came after lawmakers became too critical.

But parliament has shown it can be forceful in disagreements with the government. For years, Islamists and conservative tribal members of parliament held up the emir's efforts to give women the right to vote. The bill finally passed in May 2005.