Kuwait: Women hit out at lack of political support

KUWAIT CITY, March 29: Several female candidates who took part in the last parliamentary elections are still contemplating on the possibility of running in the upcoming elections. Naeema Al-Hai said she needs to consider a lot of things before finalizing her decision on whether to stand for the next elections or not. In case she joins the electoral race, Al-Hai will run as a candidate from the Third Constituency, where women make up 58 per cent of the voters which, she said, is an encouraging consideration for female candidates. Affirming that political awareness amongst women increased lately, Al-Hai said “Kuwaiti women are now aware of male parliamentarians’ failure to advocate their causes so they are gearing towards supporting female candidates in the next elections.”

Criticizing the lack of political support given to women, Al-Hai pointed out “none of the political blocs — even the liberals — have shown definite interest to support female candidates. Tribes have not considered women as their representatives in Parliament while the government has failed with regards to women’s expectations.” Al-Hai lamented the government seems to imply that women are not yet ready to represent the nation at the Parliament. “It is disappointing to see how previous elections have been turned into a battle ground between businessmen and merchants. Numerous business heavyweights, who intend to run in the upcoming elections, are willing to spend large sums of money on campaigns, propaganda and food to attract supporters.

Female candidates, on the other hand, have very minimal financial support,” Al-Hai added. Meanwhile, Laila Al-Rashed, who intends to stand for election from the Fifth Constituency said the current situation is still hazy. Al-Rashed, who won 449 votes in the previous elections, opined “we have to conduct a comprehensive study on the five constituencies electoral system considering even long-time male politicians are unfamiliar with the new system.”

Admitting female candidates are currently facing difficult challenges such as tribal and bloc coalitions, Al-Rashed said “women have no tribal or political party support.” She also highlighted the need to come up with new mechanisms to reach out to voters under the new electoral system. On factors deemed to encourage women to run in the elections, Al-Rashed explained “since constituencies are now larger than in previous elections, there will be more chances for female candidates due to the bigger number of female voters in each constituency.” Agreeing with Al-Hai on the lack of governmental support to women, Al-Rashed described the Cabinet’s performance in this regard as ‘negative’.

“After granting full political rights to women in 2005, the government has done very little to actually help women win a seat at the Parliament. Women even doubt the government’s stand on women’s rights,” she concluded.

By Dahlia Kholaif, Arab Times Staff