Kuwait: Kuwaitis did not elect a single woman in their first elections open to both sexes, according to official results, but they did elect a parliament dominated by reformists that is expected to give the ruling family- appointed Cabinet a much tougher time.
"It was a loss lined with success," said Fatima al-Abdali, one of the 27 women who ran against 222 men for the parliament's 50 seats in Thursday's elections.
Al-Abdali polled fifth in a field of 14 candidates in the constituency of Deyyah, a suburb of Kuwait City. She said it hurt to feel that women will never be regarded as equal to men in her conservative country, but she would not give up and planned to stand in the next elections, due in 2010.
"With persistence, we will continue and we will get there," said al-Abdali, a 48-year-old environmentalist.
The official scores of all contestants were not released till Friday, but newspapers reported that the highest polling woman was Rola Dashti, a US-educated economist, followed by Nabeela al-Anjari, a former Information Ministry official.
According to the list of winners published by the official Kuwait News Agency, no fewer than 36 of the incoming legislators have spoken in favor of electoral reform, the issue that led the emir to dissolve parliament last month and call the elections. In the last assembly 29 legislators endorsed electoral reform.
"This is proof that the people want change," said Kuwait University political scientist, Abdul-Ridha Aseeri. "I believe the (new house) will be confrontational," he added.
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