Kuwait: The Kuwaiti Cabinet has appointed four women to the municipal council, in a historical precedent witnessed by Kuwait for the first time.
The Council of Ministers approved on, Tuesday, the appointment of six new municipal council—
- Ismail Haider Behbehani
- Sharifa Saleh Al-Shalfan
- Alia Ahmed Al-Farsi
- Abdul Latif Abdullah Al-Daei
- Munira Jassim Al-Amir
- Farah Salem Al-Roumi
The council wished the appointed members and their elected colleagues success in enhancing the role of the municipal council in exercising its functions and responsibilities to support comprehensive development efforts in the country, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.
The move will empower Kuwaiti women, who have taken leading positions in various fields and have contributed to the state’s economic development but have often not held senior government positions.
Rana Al Fares, Kuwait’s Minister of Municipality, expressed her pride in recording the experience and historical precedent of four Kuwaiti women becoming members of the municipal council.
“This is an affirmation of confidence in Kuwaiti women as an essential element in reform and development,” Fares tweeted.
On May 23, Kuwait announced the victory of 10 candidates in the municipal council elections, and among them was not the only woman who was among the 36 candidates for the elections held on May 21.
The Municipal Council in Kuwait consists of sixteen members, ten of whom are chosen through free and direct voting, while the remaining six are appointed by the government, within a deadline not exceeding two weeks from the holding of the elections.
In 2003, Kuwait passed a law granting women the right to vote and run for municipal council elections, but since that time women have not succeeded in accessing the council through elections.
During the council’s previous sessions, starting in 2005, only one woman was appointed by the Council of Ministers to be a member of the council.
The Kuwaiti Municipal Council has witnessed 12 general elections in 61 years, since the country’s independence in 1961.
