Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KUWAIT174
2007-02-06 13:50:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:
PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE APPROVES "LANDMARK WOMEN'S
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHKU #0174 0371350 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 061350Z FEB 07 FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8218 INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS KUWAIT 000174
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR NEA/ARP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KWMN KDEM KU WOMEN POLITICAL RIGHTS
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE APPROVES "LANDMARK WOMEN'S
RIGHTS BILL" INTRODUCED BY ISLAMISTS
REF: A. 06 KUWAIT 4579
B. 06 KUWAIT 3984
Sensitive But Unclassified; not for Internet distribution.
UNCLAS KUWAIT 000174
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR NEA/ARP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KWMN KDEM KU WOMEN POLITICAL RIGHTS
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE APPROVES "LANDMARK WOMEN'S
RIGHTS BILL" INTRODUCED BY ISLAMISTS
REF: A. 06 KUWAIT 4579
B. 06 KUWAIT 3984
Sensitive But Unclassified; not for Internet distribution.
1. (U) On February 4, Parliament's Women's Affairs Committee
approved a bill, introduced by Islamist MPs (reftels),that
would give Kuwaiti women a host of new benefits, including
the right to apply for government housing, longer paid
maternity and mourning leave, unemployment allowances for
stay at home mothers, and partial salaries for wives
accompanying their husbands on study or diplomatic assignment
abroad. Many of these benefits are already provided to
Kuwaiti men. The committee's decision received front-page
coverage in both English-language dailies on February 5. The
Kuwait Times ran the story under the headline: "National
Assembly panel approves landmark women's rights bill."
According to the article, the legislation is "in line with
Islamic Sharia law." The bill must still be passed by
Parliament and approved by the Government before it takes
affect. The Chairman of the Women's Affairs Committee, Salah
Ashour, said he expected Parliament to vote on the bill in
March or April.
2. (SBU) Salah Ashour told PolOff on February 5 that he was
also planning to hold a major conference in late March or
early April on issues facing Kuwaiti women. The conference
will bring together prominent female researchers as well as
government officials and will focus on unequal access to
social security benefits and housing, unequal treatment of
women in personal status law, and how to encourage women to
get more involved in politics. He said major changes are
needed in all of these areas, but placed special emphasis on
amending Kuwaiti law so that a Kuwaiti woman can pass
citizenship on to her children (currently only children of
Kuwaiti men get citizenship) and so that a Kuwaiti woman and
her non-Kuwaiti husband and children can be considered a
Kuwaiti family (currently a family is defined as a Kuwaiti
man with a wife and children, thus depriving the children of
Kuwaiti women of many of the government benefits afforded to
Kuwaiti families). He predicted that there would be
opposition to such changes behind closed doors, but that few
MPs would take the political risk of voting against it in an
open vote in the parliament.
3. (SBU) Ashour stressed the importance of increasing
women's political involvement, and noted that aside from a
small group of activists most women either oppose women's
political rights or see politics as a way to solve their
personal bureaucratic problems rather than as a way to
address larger issues facing Kuwaiti women. He expressed his
opposition to the idea floated by some women activists of
having a female quota in parliament, since it would violate
the constitution. He prefers a system of voting "lists."
Each list would include at least one woman, thereby
facilitating women reaching the parliament. The details of
this system, such as whether candidates would have to run as
part of lists and whether voters would have to vote for lists
rather than individual candidates, are not clear.
4. (SBU) Comment: This is a clear example of the impact of
women's suffrage on politics in Kuwait. Although none of the
27 female candidates in last year's elections were elected,
male parliamentarians are now competing to promote the
interests of their female constituents, who now make up the
majority of the electorate. As is often the case with
Kuwait's Parliament, those efforts are still focused
primarily on obtaining more government benefits, not on
implementing the broader political and economic reforms many
here argue are crucial for development. End comment.
********************************************* *
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/
********************************************* *
TUELLER
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR NEA/ARP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KWMN KDEM KU WOMEN POLITICAL RIGHTS
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE APPROVES "LANDMARK WOMEN'S
RIGHTS BILL" INTRODUCED BY ISLAMISTS
REF: A. 06 KUWAIT 4579
B. 06 KUWAIT 3984
Sensitive But Unclassified; not for Internet distribution.
1. (U) On February 4, Parliament's Women's Affairs Committee
approved a bill, introduced by Islamist MPs (reftels),that
would give Kuwaiti women a host of new benefits, including
the right to apply for government housing, longer paid
maternity and mourning leave, unemployment allowances for
stay at home mothers, and partial salaries for wives
accompanying their husbands on study or diplomatic assignment
abroad. Many of these benefits are already provided to
Kuwaiti men. The committee's decision received front-page
coverage in both English-language dailies on February 5. The
Kuwait Times ran the story under the headline: "National
Assembly panel approves landmark women's rights bill."
According to the article, the legislation is "in line with
Islamic Sharia law." The bill must still be passed by
Parliament and approved by the Government before it takes
affect. The Chairman of the Women's Affairs Committee, Salah
Ashour, said he expected Parliament to vote on the bill in
March or April.
2. (SBU) Salah Ashour told PolOff on February 5 that he was
also planning to hold a major conference in late March or
early April on issues facing Kuwaiti women. The conference
will bring together prominent female researchers as well as
government officials and will focus on unequal access to
social security benefits and housing, unequal treatment of
women in personal status law, and how to encourage women to
get more involved in politics. He said major changes are
needed in all of these areas, but placed special emphasis on
amending Kuwaiti law so that a Kuwaiti woman can pass
citizenship on to her children (currently only children of
Kuwaiti men get citizenship) and so that a Kuwaiti woman and
her non-Kuwaiti husband and children can be considered a
Kuwaiti family (currently a family is defined as a Kuwaiti
man with a wife and children, thus depriving the children of
Kuwaiti women of many of the government benefits afforded to
Kuwaiti families). He predicted that there would be
opposition to such changes behind closed doors, but that few
MPs would take the political risk of voting against it in an
open vote in the parliament.
3. (SBU) Ashour stressed the importance of increasing
women's political involvement, and noted that aside from a
small group of activists most women either oppose women's
political rights or see politics as a way to solve their
personal bureaucratic problems rather than as a way to
address larger issues facing Kuwaiti women. He expressed his
opposition to the idea floated by some women activists of
having a female quota in parliament, since it would violate
the constitution. He prefers a system of voting "lists."
Each list would include at least one woman, thereby
facilitating women reaching the parliament. The details of
this system, such as whether candidates would have to run as
part of lists and whether voters would have to vote for lists
rather than individual candidates, are not clear.
4. (SBU) Comment: This is a clear example of the impact of
women's suffrage on politics in Kuwait. Although none of the
27 female candidates in last year's elections were elected,
male parliamentarians are now competing to promote the
interests of their female constituents, who now make up the
majority of the electorate. As is often the case with
Kuwait's Parliament, those efforts are still focused
primarily on obtaining more government benefits, not on
implementing the broader political and economic reforms many
here argue are crucial for development. End comment.
********************************************* *
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/
********************************************* *
TUELLER