IPU APPLAUDS THE ELECTION OF FOUR WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS TO THE KUWAITI LEGISLATURE

The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) welcomes the election of women for the first time ever to the Parliament of Kuwait. On 16 May, four of the 50 seats up for election (8%) were won by women.

“This is an historic turning point which attests to the progress made by Kuwait in recent years in terms of women's political participation. Partnership between men and women in the conduct of public affairs is at the core of democratic governance” said IPU President,
Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab. “The IPU applauds this achievement and looks forward to working with the parliament and its newly elected women members”.

The election of women to the parliament follows a long struggle for the right to vote, won in 2005, and two disappointing elections in 2006 and 2008 in which no woman candidate was successful. This is the highest number of women elected to a parliament in the Gulf Cooperation Council States – a region in which it is notoriously difficult for women to win direct election.

In Bahrain, only one woman was elected to the Council of Representatives in 2005. In the 2006 elections for the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates, just one woman won a seat. No woman was elected to Oman's Shura Council in the 2007 polls.

With the difficulties women encounter in being elected to parliament, political leaders have appointed women to some parliaments in the region. For example, women hold 25 percent of the seats in parliament in Bahrain, 20 percent of the seats in the upper house of Oman, and 22.5 percent in the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates, after being appointed to them.

In the Arab region, women account for an average of 9.1 percent of all members of parliament; in contrast to the global average of 18.4 percent. While the electoral results in Kuwait bode well for women, there is no room for complacency. No woman parliamentarian has ever sat in the Qatari legislature; and women do not have the right to vote or stand for election in Saudi Arabia.

Further information on the representation of women across all national parliaments is available on our dedicated webpage