An Election In Kuwait

Today, when Kuwaitis voted for a new parliament, women are both running for office and casting ballots for the first time in a national poll. In May 2005, Parliament passed a law giving women both the right to vote and the right to stand in elections for the 50-seat National Assembly. In today's election, there are 250 candidates, including many male former parliamentarians seeking re-election, but also including 28 women. Men and women are voting in separate stations as Islamists, who reject female suffrage, had demanded. Campaigners are handing out roses or water bottles with candidates' photos printed on them, and some are wearing scarves with candidates' pictures. Including Kuwait, women can now vote and run for office in four of the six countries in the Gulf Arab region. The two exceptions are Saudi Arabia, where women have very limited rights, and the United Arab Emirates, where there are no political elections.