http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NzY5NjM0NDA3
Local News Third time lucky? Published Date: May 17, 2009 KUWAIT: Since winning their political rights in 2005, Kuwaiti women have shown great advances in many walks of life, not only voting but also running for parliamentary seats. While failing to win any seats in last year's elections, female candidates recorded great results and many expect to see a female lawmaker in the National Assembly following yesterday's election. Today, Kuwaiti women are taking part in all aspects of the election process, not only as sophisticated voters, but also as highly competitive candidates, successful news reporters and representatives for hopefuls inside committees. Amna Mohammed, a 25-year-old Kuwaiti woman, said that Kuwaiti women are well-informed and can make a choice without the tutelage of men who can advise them through persuasion, not force. She expressed happiness at women's participation in the election process and said they are obtaining more experience year after year as voters and candidates. On her part, Suad Nasser, a 28-year-old representative for one of this year's parliamentary candidates, said that women's role in this key position has evolved, adding that she had performed the same role last year. In the media field, Umayyah Al-Dhafeeri, a correspondent for Radio Kuwait, said she was excited about covering this event for the first time since women attained their political rights. Female candidates' representatives, campaigning yesterday for the third time in Kuwait's political history, seem to have more self-confidence this time around and are better able to argue their candidates' policy proposals and convince voters of them. The third constituency is one of the most active in terms of female campaigners stationed at polling stations, especially with its 54 candidates including eight women, all vying for the 10 parliamentary seats representing this constituency. Most of the campaigners are young university students, who moved quickly from one voter to the next in an attempt to sway as many voters as possible in their candidate's favor just before they entered the polling station. This fervor also applies to the rest of the constituencies, where women seem to be more excited than their male counterparts, probably because of the relative novelty of the experience to them. - KUNA
