Kuwaiti Women May 18, 2008
Posted by jewaira in Film & Ads, Kuwait, Life, Links, Women.trackback
An interview I just came across with Aseel Al-Awadhi and Rola Dashti before the voting took place…..
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An interview I just came across with Aseel Al-Awadhi and Rola Dashti before the voting took place…..
I really wanted Aseel to win, and Rola just lacked the command of the Kuwaiti dialect.. It was close, I really want to see a woman MP, I want to see how it would make a difference, they do have the right ideas in mind and I don’t think anyone could do any worse then the past parlaiment.. so it will have to be in another 4 years or maybe 1 year based on our usual statistics..
I thought Aseel was gonna make it and hoped she would, I would have voted for her if I was in that district, she is well educated and an excellent speaker, one who speaks calmly and dont shout/scream for a change… I think she will make it next time, maybe in eight-months period from now LOL
I was upset none of the women won =(
In my opinion, both Aseel and Rola were the best qualified women candidates with a chance to win a seat in parliament.
I had heard some people encouraging voters to give single votes to one female candidate so that she could win but I don’t know how that would work.
Perhaps some female voters were swayed in the end to vote for other candidates.
With regards to the last woman interviewed in this clip, it is not acceptable that a woman be threatened with divorce if she does not vote according to her husband’s wishes. I think that’s hogwash. Perhaps some women were influenced to vote for candidates just because of the tribal tendencies or because of familial links.
I know some people voted for candidates as a favour for their friends or family members. They figure since it is 4 choices, they will afford one.
In the Rola Dashti rally, Khadeeja Mahmeed said that the motto of Tanami, the progressive candidate support group, was “give the fourth vote to a woman”.
I refuse to think of the elections as a “disaster” for women as AlJazeera puts it (in a related article) because this is only Kuwaiti women’s second experience in the political arena and each time there have only been 2 months to prepare for campaigns.
I hope that those women do not lose hope but continue to distinguish themselves in public life and hopefully the chance will come sooner than later.
Aseel is disarmingly charming in the way she argues her case, which I expect would broaden her appeal. Rola on the other hand seems very ‘hard sell’. would have been good for one of them to get a foot in the door to show people what they’re capable of. Better luck next time ladies.
(the journalist sounds like Borat)
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Hehe, Borat indeed
Great to see you again NavCity
Aseel came in 11th place in the district she was running in (there were 10 seats in all to be had)
For a newcomer and a woman who was relatively unknown, she did amazingly well and it is a real pity she did not make it.
Jewaira
Women must keep running and running again and again. Eventually, they will be successful, as they have been in other countries.
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Yes, PhantomMan. It is only the second chance women have had to participate in political life in Kuwait as a primary participant so I am pleased with the number of votes some got and see it as an optimistic sign for other times. These women are paving the way.
Jewaira
Hello from Germany,
I visited Kuwait in April and monitored the election campaigns further via internet when I was back in Germany.
I am a female politician in Germany on council basis and vice president of a liberal womens organisation.
I tell you this, to give you some experiences women have in Germany.
In Germany too, women don’t get any votes by women, because they are women. Even here we have “elder” women that don’t believe in female politicians. Not to speak of men, of course.
It is a mistake by women politicians to believe that women should vote for women. Men do tend to rather vote for a man, just because he is a man. But, women believe more in a figure to take over the leadership. They do believe a man is more capable of doing so.
You see, what I mean. People do think the same way here in “modernised” Europe.
Furthermore, I do believe it is a big mistake of women to tackle “only” women subjects. Nobody is interested in women subjects. As men never live the life of women - they simply don’t understand the needs and demands of women. So, why should a man vote for women that tackle female problems?
It is always harder for women to gain the same attention and respect as men do for exactly the same work.
I had to learn that, but still don’t intend to give up my work be an active member of society.
I wish all the best to Kuwait
Daisy, from Germany
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Welcome here Daisy and thank you for your input
I was pleased in these elections that many men did indeed choose at least one woman and there are many older women who selected women as well.
I tend to think it is not the age of the person that decides who he or she will vote for but rather the person’s experience, background, outlook on life, and of course very importantly, social relations.
Social relations and accountability is very important in Kuwaiti elections.
Also in my small circle of people, there were several cases where there was confusion over the names of candidates during voting and at least one name out of four was not intentionally selected: this was due to confusion over names and because of the tension when going in to actually vote it seems.
In any case, I do agree that women should not only focus on men’s issues but it was a bit “charming” that many men did concentrate on women’s issues as a campaign tactic and this was to woo the female constituencies I believe.
Jewaira
I think parliament should be run like a kitchen.
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Concise statement with a whole lot of truth to it
Jewaira
lol thanks.