Kuwaiti men vote on allowing women the right to vote

KUWAIT (Reuters) -- Some 5,000 Kuwaiti men will go to the polls on Thursday to cast ballots in a parliamentary election that could determine whether the country's women will gain the right to vote and stand for election.

A draft law that would have granted women full political rights was defeated in Kuwait's 50-member parliament, the only such elected assembly in the Gulf Arab region, by only two votes in November 1999.

If the seat up for grabs on Thursday goes to a liberal, it could tip the balance when the government, which has been lobbying MPs who abstained or missed the last vote, pushes again to pass the measure.

Some 5,150 men are registered to vote in Thursday's race in the 10th constituency, within Kuwait City, to fill a seat vacated after the death of Member of Parliament Sami al-Munais, a staunch supporter of women's rights.

Polls opened at 8:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and were to close 12 hours later. Organizers expected to complete a hand count and declare one of the 12 candidates the winner early on Friday.

About 113,000 Kuwaiti men over 21, out of the 820,000 Kuwaitis, are eligible voters.

Organizers said turnout on Thursday, the start of the Muslim weekend, was only about 20 percent during the first five hours.

Judge Adel al-Dousari said the turnout was expected to soar just before dusk as Muslims broke the daily fast during the month of Ramadan. Turnout in Kuwaiti elections has traditionally been high, often exceeding 80 percent.

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.

They include ex-minister and Islamist ex-MP Ahmad al-Kulaib.

Parliament was dissolved in May 1999 and early elections held that July after Kulaib faced bitter questioning in parliament. His attacker, ex-MP Abbas al-Khoudari, a Shi'ite running as an independent, was also running on Thursday.

Youssef al-Shayeji is running under the banner of the Kuwait Democratic Forum (KDF), which was led by the late Munais. The KDF favours women's rights.

Islamist and traditionalist tribal MPs united last year to defeat the draft bill, but Kuwait ruler Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah surprised the region last year when he ordered that women be granted full political rights.

His decree, like the draft law, was defeated in parliament.

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