Kuwaiti Lawmakers Can't Come to Decision on Partial Voting Rights for Women

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBL6F4098E.html

KUWAIT CITY (AP) - A push to allow women to participate in Kuwait's local elections stalled Monday when Islamist and conservative lawmakers abstained en masse from a key vote in parliament, leaving the measure undefeated but short of the number of votes needed for passage.

After less than an hour of debate, 29 of the 60 lawmakers present voted for the proposal. Two legislators voted no, while 29 abstained. Thirty-three yes or no votes were required for a valid vote, so the speaker said a new vote would be required. snip

Women in this oil-rich U.S. ally have reached high government posts in education, oil and the diplomatic corps. But religious conservatives opposed to their involvement in politics argue that would make them neglect their families.

Only 15 percent of the population of more than 950,000 Kuwaitis are eligible to vote. If women older than 21 are allowed to register, that figure could rise to 39 percent, according to an estimate by Al-Shall Economic Consultants.

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[CottonBear]

1. It's a good thing we invaded Iraq in order to protect Kuwati democracy.

:sarcasm:

It looks like there would be more women voters than men voters. That's why they don't want to pass the voting rights law.

[saigon68]

31. FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY ARE ON THE MARCH

tHE BUSH CRIMINALS REALLY FOOLED THE U. S. SHEEP ON THIS ONE!!!!

[daleo]

2. They best be careful about women voting.

Bush might invade to install an Islamic theocracy, as has happened in Iraq.

[renaissanceguy]

3. Better keep the women from voting, or else

it will undermine Democracy (// to "gay marriage")

:sarcasm:


http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/588704

[sweetheart]

4. Americans fought and died for these stupid shittty assholes

Kuwait should have been written off. It was not worth defending, and
all the lives lost, were lost in vain, to protect slave masters and
arab scumbags. What a shame.

[SnowGoose]

7. Broad strokes, sweetheart

Of course you've got a right to your opinion, but "arab scumbags"?

Whew.

It's probably worth remembering that 29 members voted for the measure - the same number that abstained. I'm not saying anything on the merits of going to war in Kuwait, just reminding you that no society is monolithic - for every "scumbag" that doesn't want to enfranchise women, there's probably many decent human beings on the other side, just trying to do their best at life and create a just society.

Like I said, though, I recognize your right to your opinion.

[sweetheart]

8. Ok, i'm pissed

I admit it, i got emotional and overstepped, but really, i've no
respect whatsoever for a society that does not immediately grant equal
rights to women... period... and whomever they are, they are certainly
lowlifes and i can't believe that american lives were wasted on such
a patch of desert.

[SnowGoose]

9. A good thing

I hear what you're saying when you write:

"and i can't believe that american lives were wasted on such
a patch of desert."

Although, sadly, I'm pretty sure that it was what was *under* the desert that explains why we sent our military machine in there. Surely we didn't do it because we so desperately wanted a just society in Kuwait.

I must thank you, however, because your post got me past the inertia I've had about learning more of the history of women's suffrage here in the USA. As embarrassing as it is, I didn't know until today (when I looked it up because of your post) when women actually got the power of the federal vote.

It was 1920 for my history-challenged colleagues, when Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.

So your emotion was a useful stimulus for me, at least.

[MindPilot]

5. "religious conservatives"

why is it whenever you see that phrase it's sure to be followed by something backward, regressive, retarded, or just plain ignorant?

29 abstained? I guessing they would be in for a serious butt-chewing from their wives if they voted no and they are way too manly to vote yes.

15% are eligible to vote--that's almost as much as Florida! (after Cruella finished purging)

[gratuitous]

6. Don't they appreciate all the freedom American soldiers died for?

Suggestion for Michael Smith, the numbnuts who spat on Jane Fonda: Go to Kuwait.

[Moderator]

10. kick

[emad]

Women of Kuwait denied vote by Islamist lawmakers

Women of Kuwait denied vote by Islamist lawmakers
By Diana Elias in Kuwait City
03 May 2005


A plan to allow Kuwaiti women to participate in local elections was postponed indefinitely yesterday when Islamist and conservative legislators abstained from a vote.

Sixty members of Kuwait's parliament were present for the vote, which democratic reformers had hoped would herald a new era of female participation in the country's electoral process.

Twenty-nine voted to allow women to run for municipal council seats and vote in local elections, but two voted against and 29 abstained. Thirty-three "yes" or "no" votes were required for a valid vote and no date has yet been set for another attempt.

"There is no agreement yet on whether there will be another vote or when," the Prime Minister, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, said after the session, which included less than an hour of debate before the vote.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=635166

THAT's IT: send in the 101st Airborne.........

[74dodgedart]

11. Freedom is on the March..

[Norquist Nemesis]

14. ... and accelerating to a brisk jog

*zoom zoom zoom*

[brownecowe]

12. That's sad but

Kuwait is a soverign nation.

Next thing you know Bush will invade Kuwait claiming he wanted to give women the right to vote.

[rodeodance]

18. shhhh...

[MaineDem]

13. Is this the Monday vote?

I read yesterday that they were going to vote again on Tuesday.

[74dodgedart]

15. Will Dubya take credit for this too ?

After all it is happening in the middle east and he did invade a middle eastern country...

[captain crunch]

16. Its none of our fuckin buisness what rights they give there woman.

[brownecowe]

17. Plus one

We need not meddle in their affairs even if we do not agree with it.

[rodeodance]

19. rather like the C. Church, where women can fill the lower jobs but the

higher level ones.

Twenty-nine voted to allow women to run for municipal council seats and vote in local elections, but two voted against and 29 abstained. Thirty-three "yes" or "no" votes were required for a valid vote and no date has yet been set for another attempt.

[rodeodance]

20. in any case--it sets up second class political positions for women.

[BlueEyedSon]

23. OTOH, they have oil and our army is already there.....!

[Hell Hath No Fury]

26. I am just startled by the...

recent influx of all the "enlightened" men here at DU.

Come on gals, give up a little of your civil rights here in the US -- no need to be "zealot" about your right to have autonomy over your body.

Women's rights internationally? Fuck it, none of our damn business how they treat their womens. No need to exert polical pressure or demand basic civil rights for half the population of the planet.

Face it gals, women are the niggers the world.

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. So what about Iraq and Afghanistan?

n/t

[Hell Hath No Fury]

22. Another "male" heard from.....

Mind if I :puke:

[MaineDem]

24. I disagree

This is human rights we're talking about here. Same as the Taliban in Afghanistan and so on.

It seems we care sometimes and for some issues but not all issues everywhere?

And, umm, welcome to DU.

[Inland]

27. Maybe, but it's still a great excuse to invade and steal the oil. nt

[central scrutinizer]

25. But, but, but, we restored democracy in Kuwait

during the glorious rule of Bush pere.

http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html

Viewed in strictly moral terms, Kuwait hardly looked like the sort of country that deserved defending, even from a monster like Hussein. The tiny but super-rich state had been an independent nation for just a quarter century when in 1986 the ruling al-Sabah family tightened its dictatorial grip over the "black gold" fiefdom by disbanding the token National Assembly and firmly establishing all power in the be-jeweled hands of the ruling Emir. Then, as now, Kuwait's ruling oligarchy brutally suppressed the country's small democracy movement, intimidated and censored journalists, and hired desperate foreigners to supply most of the nation's physical labor under conditions of indentured servitude and near-slavery. The wealthy young men of Kuwait's ruling class were known as spoiled party boys in university cities and national capitals from Cairo to Washington.70

<snip>

Hill & Knowlton, then the world's largest PR firm, served as mastermind for the Kuwaiti campaign. Its activities alone would have constituted the largest foreign-funded campaign ever aimed at manipulating American public opinion. By law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act should have exposed this propaganda campaign to the American people, but the Justice Department chose not to enforce it. Nine days after Saddam's army marched into Kuwait, the Emir's government agreed to fund a contract under which Hill & Knowlton would represent "Citizens for a Free Kuwait," a classic PR front group designed to hide the real role of the Kuwaiti government and its collusion with the Bush administration. Over the next six months, the Kuwaiti government channeled $11.9 million dollars to Citizens for a Free Kuwait, whose only other funding totalled $17,861 from 78 individuals. Virtually all of CFK's budget - $10.8 million - went to Hill & Knowlton in the form of fees.74

[Roland99]

28. Wonder how long until Kristol complains of this in the Weakly Standard?

[jpak]

29. Over 100 American GI's died to "liberate" Kuwait

And all Poppy did was turn the place over to his feudal monarch buddies.

George Washington turns in his grave...

[DoYouEverWonder]

30. So how come Condi isn't running over there

to tell them they have to move toward democracy?

Oh yeah, they are already selling us all their oil. We don't need to invade them.

[Moderator]

32. kick

[brooklynite]

33. Lawmakers Block Women From Voting in Kuwait

Conservative lawmakers in Kuwait's Parliament on Tuesday created a constitutional roadblock that effectively killed a measure that would have allowed women to participate in city council elections for the first time. Hours later, the elections were called for June 2.

The action eliminates any chance that women will be able to take part in elections for another four years, when city council seats are again up for grabs.

The legislation initially was passed by Kuwait's 64-member National Assembly on April 19, but in accordance with Kuwaiti law faced a second vote for ratification on Monday. But Parliament ended in deadlock on Monday when 29 members abstained and only 29 voted for it, leaving the legislation just shy of the 33 votes needed.

Efforts to resume voting on the measure on Tuesday failed when opponents argued that it had already been rejected and that any new vote would therefore be unconstitutional. In a surprise move, the prime minister, Sheik Sabah al-Jaber al-Sabah, shelved the issue for two more weeks. Because the elections were called under the existing law, women are barred from participating in the coming municipal elections even if the measure ultimately passes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/international/middleeast/04kuwait.html?oref=login
- - -
Well, as long as they're helping us in our fight to bring democracy to the Middle East...

[rodeodance]

34. Well Jr--what do you say about this?

[liberal N proud]

35. It's OK because they are our freinds........

for now!