It was too early to cheer on the topic of women’s voting rights in Kuwait. The Prime Minister as well as the chief of state wanted women to vote and stand for elections. But the conservatives did not agree and voted down the proposal
Women’s participation in politics has been a divisive issue in Kuwait for years, and in recent months has grown heated as advocates for women, backed by international pressure, appeared to make strides. Bahrain, Qatar and Oman have all held elections in recent years, and all have allowed women to vote.
Kuwait’s elected Parliament exercises a great deal of control over the government. But while the Kuwaiti Constitution gives equal rights to men and women, the country’s election law bars women, along with men in the police and military, from voting. That limits the voting base to only 15 percent of the total population of 950,000 Kuwaitis.
Women would essentially double that base, and redraw the country’s political map in the process. But conservative and tribally backed members of Parliament say Islam and Kuwaiti custom bar women from holding that much power.
“The parliaments of most other Muslim countries don’t have as much power as we do,” said Waleed al-Tabtabae, head of Parliament’s human rights committee and a fervent opponent of the measure. “We have no problem with women voting, but we do have a problem with women standing for elections. Islam dictates that the head of the nation must be a man, and we are technically the head of the nation here.” [Lawmakers Block Women From Voting in Kuwait]
If Islam dictates that the head of the nation must be a man, then did Pakistan and Bangladesh commit un-Islamic acts ?
