Kuwaiti women take part in election for first time

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
For the first time in Kuwait's history, women voted and ran in a public election Tuesday. However, light turnout for the municipal by-election showed that persuading women to practice their newly won political rights was a difficult challenge. "We have to prove we are worth the support we got," said a beaming Amal Hamad, a 40-year-old civil servant who had just cast her ballot for one of the two female candidates. "This is just the beginning." The vote to fill one seat in the country's Municipal Council came almost a year after parliament passed a bill enfranchising women and enabling them to stand elections. Tuesday's vote was seen as a preview of how women might fare in next year's parliamentary elections.