Say Anything Blog

KUWAIT CITY - A sea of black flooded a local polling station in Kuwait Tuesday when hundreds of women clad in the head-to-toe abaya cast their vote for the first time.

One of the two female candidates contesting a vacant seat on the powerful Municipal Council, Khaledah Al-Khader, said she faced some criticism from Islamic groups.

"Some individuals believe that simply because I am of the female gender, I am incapable of having a seat in the council - because I would not be strong enough to deal with the pressure," says Ms. Khader, a medical doctor educated at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Considered a test case for 2007 parliamentary polls, the by-election is the first in which women have been able to vote since the National Assembly approved universal suffrage last year.

The May 2005 decision sparked widespread debate about women's roles in politics, with some conservative Islamist members of Parliament arguing that women should not be allowed in Parliament without wearing the Islamic hijab, or head covering.

The landmark political participation of women in Kuwait's election Tuesday is part of a regional trend in the Arab Gulf states, where women are growing more publicly vocal about political matters.

Qatar recently announced that it would hold first ever parliamentary elections in 2007, in which women will be allowed to vote. These modest political gains mark a dramatic shift for a region where many women still cannot even leave their homes, take a job, or go to school without the permission of their father or husband.