Kuwaiti Women Get the Vote
Omar Hasan, Agence France Presse

KUWAIT CITY, 17 May 2005 — Kuwaiti women were yesterday granted the right to vote and stand in elections, under a historic amendment to the Gulf emirate’s election law that triggered celebrations outside Parliament.

If you think it’s only simple news reporting when the Arab News puts this story on its front page you, well you ought to be writing for Newsweek.

The article is very pointed in it description of those who fought against the vote:

The final vote came after a nine-hour heated debate during which anti-women MPs tried to block the vote after realizing the government had a sufficient majority to pass the amendment.

But they succeeded in passing an addition to the amendment requiring Kuwaiti women who take part in the elections “to comply with regulations dictated by Islamic Shariah law”, without explaining the nature of those guidelines.

And as for those who supported it?

Kuwaiti women now join their counterparts from Gulf neighbors Qatar, Oman and Bahrain in having the vote.

The amendment, which was finalized after several years of debate and struggle by Kuwaiti women, passed by a vote of 35 MPs for, including 14 ministers, 23 against and one abstention. It was opposed by Islamist and tribal legislators.

The result, announced by Parliament Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi, was greeted with thunderous applause from the public gallery who also sang Kuwait’s national anthem.

Women activists and their supporters came out of the Parliament building cheering the result, some in disbelief. They sang and danced in the Parliament’s yard.

Note, too, how it was a liberal government acting–with just sufficient support from the parliament–that pushed through this reform. You can be sure that Saudi readers will note it.