The latest legal challenge to Kuwait's ban on women voting and running for office cleared a hurdle yesterday when the Administrative Court referred it to the country's highest court. But the case, filed by two women, still had far to go. The Constitutional Court has dismissed several similar suits, including one filed by a man thrown out earlier this month, saying they did not meet procedural requirements.
"Our approach is different from the other cases although the issue is the same," Luluwa Al Mullah told Reuters of the case she filed with fellow activist Hind Al Shalfan. Attorney Abdel-Kareem Haider told Reuters: "Our case is airtight and meets all the requirements. We are asking the court to allow my clients to register as voters. If there are no interferences by the government, this case can make it," he said when asked about chances for success, adding that the court could hear the case in March.
Kuwait's elected parliament is an all-male house which enjoys wide powers and has repeatedly defeated bills aimed at granting women political rights. The government has said it supports rights for women, attracting praise from some of Kuwait's key Western political and military allies. But its lawyers have stood in court against similar cases, arguing that they failed to meet legal requirements. Mullah's case argues that she and others were unjustly barred from signing up as voters during the annual February registering in Kuwait's 25 constituencies.
Kuwaiti women are highly emancipated. They head diplomatic missions, run businesses, hold senior posts and help steer the vital oil sector. Some 113,000 men are eligible voters in a country of about 820,000 Kuwaitis. Women activists said they will challenge the ban again by trying to add their names to voters' lists during this year's registration next month. Women's rights are due to be reviewed again in parliament. A group of MPs has presented a new draft law to grant women political rights by the next scheduled general and municipal polls in 2003.
Kuwait high court to hear new women's rights case
The latest legal challenge to Kuwait's ban on women voting and running for office cleared a hurdle yesterday when the Administrative Court referred it to the country's highest court. But the case, filed by two women, still had far to go.