The extension of full political rights to women means they will be able to stand for election to Kuwait’s hitherto all-male National Assembly.

MAJOR advances in extending Kuwait’s democracy have been made in recent months with the granting of full political rights to women and the appointment of the first female Cabinet minister.

The decision to allow women to vote, taken by the National Assembly in May, more than doubles at a stroke the percentage of Kuwaiti citizens with the right to vote, raising it from from around 15% to more than 30%. Previously, voting was limited to adult males who had been citizens for 20 years and were not members of the security forces.

Passed by a comfortable majority, the move is a major step towards bringing Kuwait’s political system into the modern era. The emirate was the first Gulf state to write a constitution and opt for parliamentary democracy back in 1962.

Women will cast their votes for the first time in the 2007 legislative elections and the municipal polls in 2009. With the vote comes the right to stand in parliamentary and local elections. Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar are the only other states in the Gulf region to allow women to vote and stand for public office.

MAASOUMA AL-MUBARAK Minister of Planning

The appointment in June of Maasouma Al-Mubarak as Minister of Planning and Administrative Development, makes Kuwait the third Gulf country to have a woman in the Cabinet.

According to Kuwaiti law, the U.S.-educated women’s rights activist and professor of international relations automatically becomes a member of the National Assembly—the first Kuwaiti woman to do so.

Her appointment comes on the heels of an earlier landmark decision by the Cabinet earlier in June to appoint Sheikha Fatima Nassr Al-Sabah and Fawziya Al-Bahar as the first women members of the Municipal Council, which deals with civic planning.

Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has welcomed the changes. “We are full of hope, trust, and aspiration that the participation of Kuwaiti women in political life will be an essential tributary to enriching political work and democracy in the State of Kuwait,” he says.

The greater sense of security and confidence in Kuwait since the fall of Saddam Hussein has created an environment more conducive to change. The government is poised to accelerate liberal reforms, including a reduction in the number of electoral districts from 25 to10 in a bid to curb alleged corruption.

A constitutional emirate, Kuwait remains one of the most open political societies in the Middle East, striking a balance between modern liberal aspirations and the rich heritage of the Al-Sabah dynasty, which has ruled the Gulf state throughout its 250-year history.

The National Assembly plays a genuine part in decision-making, and has powers to initiate legislation, question members of the Cabinet, and express lack of confidence in individual ministers. Formal political parties are banned, but de facto political blocks exist and the most recent general election, in 2003, was judged free and fair.

In terms of press freedom, Kuwait is ranked 103rd internationally, according to the Journalists Without Frontiers organization, and second only to Lebanon among the Arab nations. Minister of Information Anas Al-Rasheed is planning amendments to the press and publications law to extend further legal protection to freedom of expression.

Outside the political sphere, women are coming to play an increasingly important role in the country’s economic life, with many Kuwaiti businesswomen in prominent positions.

Increasing numbers of women are achieving higher education levels and taking up jobs. According to Sheikha Hessa Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, who chairs the Council for Arab Businesswomen, the number of Kuwaiti women in the national labor force has grown more than seven-fold over the last 20 years.