Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Kuwait: Kuwaiti women win first parliamentary seats

KUWAIT CITY – Official results announced on state television show that Kuwaiti women have won parliamentary elections for the first time, garnering four seats. The Victory is resounding in this conservative Persian Gulf country where parliaments have been men-only for almost five decades.
Women were granted political rights in 2005. They failed to make any gains in two previous elections.
According to partial official results read by judges Sunday, Massouma al-Mubarak, the country's first female Cabinet minister, became a lawmaker. She is an independent Shiite. The other winners were Westernized liberal Aseel al-Awadhi, women's rights activist Rola Dashti, and independent university teacher Salwa al-Jassar.

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