Kuwaiti men the only voters in women's suffrage election

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (Reuters) -- A few thousand Kuwaiti men voted on Thursday to fill a parliamentary seat that could determine whether the country's women will gain the right to vote and stand for election.

The 12-hour vote in a constituency in Kuwait City closed at 1700 GMT with about 75 percent of the some 5,150 eligible men casting their votes, organisers said.

If the single seat up for grabs on Thursday goes to a liberal, it could tip the balance when the government pushes again to pass a draft law granting women full political rights after it was defeated a year ago by just two votes.

Supporters of the new draft bill have been lobbying MPs who abstained or opposed the last vote.

Thursday's election will fill a seat vacated after the death of Member of Parliament Sami al-Munais, a staunch supporter of women's rights.

Organisers expected to complete a hand count and declare one of the 12 candidates the winner early on Friday.

About 113,000 Kuwaiti men aged over 21, out of 820,000 Kuwaitis, are eligible to vote in the country while women are not allowed either to vote or stand for election.

The 12 candidates cover a wide political spectrum, including liberals, Islamists, former MPs and representatives of the Sunni Muslim majority and a Shi'ite minority.

Islamist and traditionalist tribal MPs united last year to defeat the draft bill days after they killed a similar decree by Kuwait ruler Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

The emir's decree would have granted women the right to vote and run for election by 2003.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Kuwait National Assembly
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  •  International Report 1999: Kuwait
Kuwait Information Office in Washington D.C.
Kuwait's Mission to the United Nations
Inter-Parliamentary Union
  • Women in politics
History of Women's Suffrage in the U.S.

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