FOUR US-educated professional women made history on Saturday by winning election for the first time in half a century to the Kuwaiti national assembly, the oldest elected parliament in the Gulf. Results released yesterday gave victory to independent Shia Massouma al-Mubarak, the country’s first female minister, liberal Aseel al-Awadhi, women’s rights activist Rola Dashti, and university lecturer Salwa al-Jassar.
The women, who hold doctoral degrees in political science, economics and education, represent different social backgrounds.
Kuwaiti women, who comprise 54.3 per cent of the 385,000 eligible voters, were enfranchised only in 2005 and voted for the first time in 2006. In this contest, 16 women stood in a field of 210. This was the third election since 2006.
Their triumph, combined with a fall in the representation of two Sunni religious groups from seven to three seats, dealt a serious blow to the declining fundamentalists who oppose women’s participation in political life.
However, 25 conservative tribal figures were returned and, bolstered by the remaining fundamentalists, continue to enjoy a comfor- table majority.
The election is unlikely to provide stability in the oil-rich emirate, which produces 2.2 million barrels of oil a day. Among legislators who won re-election are personalities who clashed with the ruler, Shaikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and the cabinet, which he appoints, the majority being members of his family. Although parliament has legislative and oversight powers and can cast a vote of no confidence in a cabinet, it cannot influence the ruler’s choice of ministers. “If the composition of the new government does not change fundamentally, crises will return in a big way,” stated political analyst Nasser al-Abdeli. Such crises have led to the suspension or dissolution of parliament a number of times since 1986.
Due to a dispute over a multi-billion-dollar economic stimulus package to rescue the emirate’s faltering economy, the ruler dismissed the outgoing parliament in March after only few months in office. The new assembly is likely to contest the package which has already been implemented, risking a fresh confrontation with the emir and a new constitutional crisis.
