ShareKUWAIT: Becoming an essential part of the democratic process via voting and running, Kuwaiti women also proved vital in making or breaking candidates’ chances for the coveted seat at the National Assembly. Women in Kuwait contributed immensely to various election campaigns, promoting candidates to eligible voters throughout Kuwait.
Women in Kuwait play a key role as campaign managers and activists to promote candidates, professor of political science at Kuwait University (KU) Wafa Al-Aradi told KUNA. She indicated that women usually promote male candidates more effectively due to the social fabric of society, noting that they are strong in social networking, which contributes to the success of candidates. Women represent around 50 percent of the population, and it is very important to gain their votes to sway the polls, Al-Aradi affirmed, stressing that they are an important factor and a vital human resource during election season.
Meanwhile, Eman Dasthi — a political activist vying for the rights of women to reach the highest levels in parliament — from the level of voters to becoming Members of Parliament, women were a force to be reckoned with. All candidates, whether male or female, made it a necessity to include a women’s committee in their campaign, Dashti said, pointing out that this factor enabled candidates to gain an edge in elections.
It is very important to educate women on political participation in decision-making, Dashti noted, and she added that this would enable women to gain prominent positions in the country. On her part, member of the board of the Women’s Cultural and Social Society Sharifa Al-Khamis affirmed that women played a part in the logistic part of election campaigns via coordinating committees’ work and highlighting candidates’ messages.
The active social nature of Kuwaiti society made women crucial for the task of luring voters to vote for certain candidates, she indicated. She said that after gaining full voter and campaign rights in 2005, Kuwaiti women had a decent record in the political scene, and hopefully this would continue in the future. — KUNA
