WUNRN
KUWAIT - MALE DOMINATED SOCIETY
POSES CHALLENGES FOR WOMEN'S POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
Dr Rana
Abdulrazzaq expressed her disappointment at not having even one women candidate
pass the elections. “If we compare the performance of male MPs and female MPs,
the women were much more productive. They were attending committees in
Parliament, they proposed law drafts, their dialogue was more polite, and they
carried out many projects. Women MPs participated in passing a law in favor of
women, especially the housing care law,” she stated.
She
spoke about the reasons that women failed from her point of view. “Although
some female candidates were competing with male candidates and achieved a good
number of votes, none of them passed. This is due to the general atmosphere of
the elections. Women candidates did not participate in the tribal or sect
coalitions. They did not use impolite dialogue and shouting like the men did.
We witnessed some new young candidates who won, and this was due to their
coalition with the Salafi faction,” added Dr Rana.
Ibraheem
Al-Mulaifi said any analysis after resolving Parliament is not accurate. “We
need psychological analyses more than election analyses in this issue. The
change is not only in Parliament but in the Government as well, as there are no
women ministers. At the end, their failure was the choice of the people and we
respect the opinion of voters who have chosen their candidates,” he said.
He
agreed with Dr Rana that the women MPs were more productive and attended more
sessions in the last Parliament. “Women participated in political life even
before getting their political rights. Masouma Al-Mubarak, for instance, was a
minister in 2003, and Nouria Al-Subeih was a minister as well. I think there is
a general ignorance of the issue of women in the community. I wonder where are
those who were defending women’s rights. I advise women to go to protest at
Dr
Khadeeja Al-Mahmeed insisted that Kuwaiti society is still a male dominated
society. “I see the main reason for the failure of women in this Parliament as
the male culture. The way is still long for us women, as the community still
preserves old social traditions which prefer and empower men. I think that this
is an experience and woman here should not stand. She should be optimistic,”
she stated.
By Nawara Fattahova, Staff
Writer