Kuwaiti women feel betrayed by MPs KUWAIT, DEC. 1. Women in Kuwait were robbed of their eagerly awaited chance to take part in political life on Tuesday when the all-male Parliament narrowly rejected a Bill to give them the vote. Hundreds of men who crowded the public gallery in the Gulf state's Parliament cheered the 32-30 vote. Women, sitting separately, filed out in stunned silence, muttering under their breath about the treachery of supporters who betrayed them at the last minute. Kuwait's ruling Al-Sabah family are strong advocates of allowing women to vote for Parliament and stand for elected office, which is unheard of in the other Gulf states. But the conservative sentiments of the Sunni Muslim and tribal MPs - who want men and women segregated - carried the day. The Bill would have given women in the oil-rich emirate the right to vote from 2003. Many women had thought that they would be successful in getting the vote. But two MPs who had backed their campaign abstained and one voted against. ``It is a huge disappointment. The hypocrisy of some MPs is unbelievable,'' said Ms Yasmine al- Sabah, a young member of the ruling family. She said some MPs had followed their own agendas, rather than voting on the merits of the female vote. However, others said the margin was so close that they would continue the struggle. ``We will continue to fight,'' said Sheikha al-Nisf, a women's activist. It is up to the Government to propose the Bill again, but it was not clear if it intended to do so. Kuwait is the only Arab state in the region with a directly elected Parliament. But even here, the franchise is very restricted. Only men over 21 who have held Kuwaiti citizenship for more than 20 years can vote. Women and those serving in the police and armed forces are also excluded. Restrictive view The bulk of the `no' vote came from Sunni Muslim MPs, who take a restrictive view of a woman's role in public life. The Kuwaiti vote was closely watched throughout the Arab world, where women have made enormous strides in education which are not matched by a public role. In Saudi Arabia, women are still banned from driving though they have recently been allowed to watch sessions of the kingdom's Consultative Assembly. In Qatar, a small Gulf state, women were allowed to cast ballots and stand in local elections for the first time this year but none was voted in. - Telegraph Group Limited, London, 1999
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