Issue 758, 27 May 2005

Sheikh Sabah’s boldness pays off at last to win Kuwaiti women the vote

A victory at last for Kuwaiti reformists, with the appointment of a first female minister promised following the passage of the breakthrough political rights law. The surprise development on 16 May was a triumph for Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed, who showed what can be done if the government goes for broke.

Clever timing, the exercise of behind-the-scenes pressure and the decision of several influential members of parliament (MPs) to swing behind a reform they have long opposed, proved crucial in delivering the National Assembly majority that has, after years of campaigning, finally delivered full political rights to the women of Kuwait.

Only on the night before did feminist activists learn that Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had decided to play for the highest stakes and bring the full women’s political rights law to the floor of the National Assembly on 16 May. All sides had assumed the government would simply make another attempt to secure parliamentary backing for its much more modest subsidiary proposal to allow women to vote and stand for office in municipal elections. This measure that had been passed on first reading only to face rejection on the important second vote two weeks earlier (GSN 757/1, 756/4, 755/1).

Their confidence shaken by the ferociously successful opposition mounted by Islamists and their allies on that occasion, supporters of women’s rights reform had almost resigned themselves to a fresh wait of several months at least before the government risked another attempt at pushing the long-promised measure through the assembly. Despite Sheikh Sabah’s denials, there was speculation that the premier might even opt for a dissolution of Parliament in the probably vain hope that fresh elections would produce a more amenable contingent of MPs. In the event, he opted for one last surprise try at getting the reform through this time, and pulled off a dramatic shock victory that has may re-energise the government’s whole reform programme.

His triumph could have potentially favourable consequences for other key measures such as the framework legislation for the Project Kuwait northern oilfields development. To secure victory – by 35 votes to 23, with one abstention – the government applied heavy pressure on its loyalists, including a number of conservative tribal MPs who have hitherto opposed women’s political rights.

Oiling the wheels

Reformists have long argued that if the government really decided to push the measure through, it had the clout to do so, and this has proved to be the case. There are many so-called ‘services MPs’, whose principal preoccupation is keeping their constituents happy by arranging jobs and services; they are obviously under heavy pressure to keep on the right side of government. Sheikh Sabah helped consolidate their support by agreeing to a KD50/month pay increase for all but the best-paid civil servants, and a KD30 rise for pensioners. But, from the other side, the powerful Islamist lobby, with a substantial bloc of parliamentarians and many supporting voters even in areas where it does not hold seats, was also able to exert heavy pressure on MPs.

This appears to explain why some moderates, such as Mohammed Al-Mtair – who defeated the reformist Abdallah Al-Naibari in middle-class Abdallah Al-Salem district in the 2003 election – continued to vote against women’s rights even this time around. Meanwhile, National Assembly speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi, a one-time opponent who has been careful to swim with the tide of parliamentary opinion, opted for abstention this time. However, at the end of the day, anti-feminist pressures were offset by the decision of several influential voices to switch over and support the measure.

Saadoun changes sides

Particularly important in a ferocious day’s debating was the decision of one-time opponent and former speaker, Populist Bloc leader Ahmed Saadoun, to make a powerful speech in support of reform. He has taken a significant political risk because he may now lose the support of Islamist voters in the Khaldiya constituency that he came close to losing last time. On the other hand, liberals who had voted against him in 2003, because of his nationalist economic views, may now back Saadoun at the next election. If he can keep his seat, Saadoun has a good chance, with liberal MPs’ support, of retaking the speakership from Khorafi.

As usual, Shia MPs – including the charismatic transparency campaigning cleric Hussein Qallaf, a sometime doubter – came out solidly in favour of reform. Indeed, even one Sunni Islamist, Awad Barad Al-Enezi, set tongues wagging by deciding to vote ‘yes’. Islamists did secure an amendment specifying that women voters should comply with Sharia, but Sheikh Sabah has subsequently stated that the government has no plans to draw up rules specifying what this means, as Kuwaitis already live by the Islamic traditions.