http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=127844&d=29&m=10&y=2009&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Thursday 29 October 2009 (11 Dhul Qa`dah 1430)
Kuwait MPs can shun hijab
Agence France Presse
VINDICATED: Kuwaiti MP Salwa Al-Jassar reacts at the National
Assembly building in Kuwait City after the court ruling on Wednesday. (AFP)
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait's constitutional court on Wednesday rejected an
action brought by four voters to declare invalid the election of two women MPs
because they refuse to wear the headscarf.
The decision of the court, whose rulings are final, was announced to
reporters by the chairman of the court, Yussef Ghanam Al-Rashid.
Two of the four women who became Kuwait's first female MPs in May refuse
to wear the hijab, which has also been spurned by the only woman appointed as a
minister in the Kuwaiti government following the May election.
The four voters said the two MPs had flouted a clause in an election law
stipulating that women voters and candidates must comply with Islamic
regulations, including wearing the hijab.
Explaining its decision in a written verdict, the court said the election
law fails to specify the type of regulations women must adhere to or whether
that included wearing the hijab.
It also pointed out that the Kuwaiti constitution, which is higher than
any law, guarantees personal freedom and freedom of faith and does not
discriminate between people over their religion or sex.
The emirate's fatwa department, which issues religious edicts, ruled in
early October that Muslim women must wear the hijab in line with Islamic law.
Islamist MPs are demanding the authorities enforce the fatwa, but their
liberal colleagues say it is non-binding, insisting the rule of law and the
constitution should be the only points of reference.
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