By Montaha Al-Fadhli
KUWAIT, May 17 (KUNA) -- The Kuwaiti National Assembly elections on Saturday led to surprising results with the successful bids of four female hopefuls and indicated a dramatic change in the Kuwaiti society.
This was the third time for Kuwaiti women to contest the legislative elections after the first two bids which ended in failure in 2006 and 2008, three political observers opined in separate interviews with KUNA on Sunday.
The four newly-elected female lawmakers are Dr. Ma'souma Al-Mubarak - a former minister who won the largest number of votes in the third constituency, Dr. Aseel Al-Awadhi who came second in the same constituency, Dr. Salwa Al-Jassar - representative of the second constituency, and Dr. Rola Dashti from the third constituency.
The successful bids of the four academicians represent a dramatic turning point in the history of Kuwait's parliament and reflect a clear change in the social concepts of Kuwaiti society.
The hard win is brought about four years after the Kuwaiti women's political rights had been enshrined in the country's legislations. This is a short time if compared with the progress of woman political empowerment in other Arab countries.
"The Kuwaiti women have been able to notch up this great victory at a crucial time and set a precedent in the history of Arabian Gulf parliaments," Dr. Mohammad Al-Feili, professor of constitutional law at Kuwait University (KU), believes.
"The results of yesterday elections revealed a dramatic change in the Kuwaiti voters' approach to politics.
"Although the number of female candidates in the just ended elections was only 16, far less than the number of those who stood for the last two elections - 28 candidates in 2006 and 26 in 2008, the results of the elections reflected a storm of change in the voters' concepts," he said. The female MPs will make up nine percent of the total number of members the 50-seat National Assembly, Dr. Al-Feili added, noting that the percentage was almost the same as those of the parliaments of many European countries.
The average percentage of female MPs in the parliaments of the Arab countries is 4.6 percent while the figure hits 20 percent in the major democracies such as France and Canada, he said, citing the statistics of the World Constitution and Parliament Association.
Dr. Al-Feili voiced hope that the woman's accession to the National Assembly would improve the parliamentary performance and the conduct of MPs in general.
On his part, Sajed Al-Abdali, a prominent journalist, agreed that the results and the win notched up by the female hopefuls were "a big surprise." "What made it a surprise are the number of female winners and the advanced positions they were able to secure such as the top and second positions in the third constituency," he noted.
"Kuwaiti women have been able to make history through accession to the parliament in a record time and making up a strong parliamentary bloc," Al-Abdali added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Shafiq Al-Ghabra, professor of political science at KU, hailed the women's electoral victory as great achievement for the voters who voted for them. "The female winners should work together to provide a role model for lawmakers and maintain the trust of voters," he said.
"The females' victory coincides with the fourth anniversary of the legislation that granted women their political rights and heralds the start of social maturity for the Kuwaiti voters," Dr. Al-Ghabra asserted.
-- Dr. Ya'qoub Al-Kandari, dean of KU's Faculty of Social Sciences, said the entry of four women into the National Assembly is an unprecedented achievement.
"It is a historic achievement as Kuwaiti women were able to make this hard win despite their short experience in politics," Dr. Al-Kandari pointed out.
The results of the polls mark the collapse of unfair social stereotypes about women and a clear change in the approach of Kuwaiti society to women participation in political life.
"The Kuwaiti voters have clearly voted for efficiency and stated their desire for change regardless of gender considerations," he asserted.
"It will be no surprise that women will assert themselves as lawmakers as they did in several key positions such as the positions of cabinet ministers, ambassadress, directors of corporations, Dr. Al-Kandari said.
He attributed the success of the females' bids to the change of social approach to women after the strain of relations between the country's legislative and executive authorities, the efficiency of female hopefuls, and their academic degrees.
For his part, Dr. Khaldoun Al-Naqib, professor of political sociology and psychology, said the female candidates were able to gain support from voters due to their high scientific qualifications and their integrity shown clearly during campaigning.
Regardless of their political affiliations, the female candidates introduced themselves to voters as advocates of reform and adopted platforms aiming to get the country out of the current crises.
"Some voters regretted failure to vote for female candidates in the 2008 legislative elections and decided to correct their mistake in the just-ended polls," Dr. Al-Naqib made clear. (end) mf.na.gb KUNA 171849 May 09NNNN