Kuwait’s first woman takes up cabinet post

KUWAIT’S first female cabinet member took the oath of office in parliament yesterday over the shouts of Muslim fundamentalist and tribal MPs opposed to women’s participation in politics.

The parliament floor was in uproar as conservatives stood and cried out that Massouma al-Mubarak’s appointment was unconstitutional because she was not a registered voter. Liberal MPs then stood as well, shouting back, “congratulations”.

Amid the din, Ms al-Mubarak, dressed in a pinstriped dark blue suit, and an Islamic veil that covered her hair, rose from her seat in the front row and read the oath from a paper seemingly unaffected by the screaming match.

The US-educated political science teacher was named as minister of planning and administrative development on June 12, a month after Kuwait’s parliament gave women the right to vote and participate in politics for the first time.

By law, cabinet ministers become members of the legislature with the right to vote on most issues. Ms Al-Mubarak described the event as a great day for all Kuwaiti women. She said she was willing to “co-operate with all MPs” in the interests of her country.

Tribal representatives and fundamentalists, who believe women should not mix freely with men and should stay at home to take care of their families, repeatedly blocked the legislation giving women voting rights until it was finally passed.

And they’ve made it clear they oppose Ms al-Mubarak’s appointment, saying it was unconstitutional because she does not satisfy one of the conditions for becoming a minister, which is being an “eligible voter.”

She was unable to register in the annual registration period, in February, because the suffrage bill had not yet been passed.

“If she is not registered, she is not a voter,” MP Deiffallah Bou Ramia shouted. He had earlier collected 10 signatures of fellow MPs to discuss the minister’s appointment in the house, a step that could lead to raising the matter to the constitutional court.

The cabinet and pro- women’s rights members of the house say registration is not a requirement for being an eligible voter.

“Tell me, is Sheik Nawwaf (al-Sabah, the interior minister) registered?” roared liberal MP Mohammed al-Saqer.

The prime minister, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed al-Sabah, who walked into the chamber in the middle of the heated exchange said:

“I would like to tell you I am not registered, if there is a law against this, then we (unregistered cabinet members) will all have to walk out of this parliament.”

Kuwaiti women have reached high positions in oil, education and the diplomatic corps, but they were until recently kept out of politics because of the now amended election law of 1962 that limited political rights to men. Conservative members accused the speaker Jassem al-Kharafi of siding with the pro-women’s rights MPs by trying to prevent them from speaking. But they all managed to speak, mostly out of turn.