MEDIA REACTION: KUWAITI WOMEN VOTE

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001323 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN LONDON FOR TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO PREL KDEM PGOV KU SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: KUWAITI WOMEN VOTE Block Quotes -------------- -- Under the headline "Men and Women... what a shame" by Yousef Al-Shihab Al-Qabas published on April 9, 2006: "In the past, women were not allowed out of the house. Then, they were allowed to go to school. Later, they were allowed to study abroad and study at the university level. Today Kuwaiti women have overcome all the hurdles that previously confined them. Women voted alongside the men and the process was without incident, except for some people's reservations. This was a day when everyone was a winner and before them the grand winner was Kuwait." -- Al-Rai Al-Aam, a daily political newspaper published an Op-Ed on April 11, 2006 titled "Hold your horses--the women had no bearing" by Dr. Sajid Al-Abdaly, a columnist, in which he wrote: "Let us do the simple math and figure the percentage of votes cast by women for each candidate. Women had no influence on the results at all, they simply added to the numbers of voters. Despite the fact that women make up 60% of all districts in Kuwait--meaning that they could have influenced the results--they did not. The percentage of women voting was less than 45% of those eligible to vote. We now must raise women's awareness and increase their electoral knowledge. Women who depend on other women's sympathy vote are delusional." ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * LEBARON