Kuwaiti women vote for 1st time
2006-04-04 09:54
Kuwait City - Kuwaiti women began casting votes for the first time on Tuesday in a by-election for a municipal council seat, less than one year after winning full political rights in the oil rich Gulf state.
Two women are among eight candidates running for the seat in the district of Salmiya, about 15km southeast of the capital.
Voting began slowly as Tuesday is a normal working day but is expected to pick up before ballots close at 20:00.
The district has 28 000 eligible voters, 60% of whom are women.
Men and women are voting in segregated booths in accordance with a provision in the election law introduced last year by Islamist and conservative lawmakers.
Kuwaiti women were granted full political rights in a historic vote in parliament in only May 2005. The government subsequently appointed two women members of the municipal council and named the first woman cabinet minister.
The Salmiya seat fell vacant after municipal council chairman Abdullah al-Muhailbi was appointed municipality and environment minister in the new Kuwaiti cabinet formed in February.
The council - a civic body that carries out tasks such as city planning, organisation and regulation of housing - has 16 members, 10 of whom are elected and the rest appointed by the emir.
Kuwaiti women will also be able to vote in the general election scheduled for 2007.