Liberals Gain in National Elections

Supporters of efforts to grant Kuwaiti women voting rights got a big boost when liberal candidates more than tripled their numbers in the Persian Gulf’s only parliament. Votes tallied today show that liberal or liberal-leaning candidates secured 14 spots in the 50-seat National Assembly. The position of all the new lawmakers on a decree by the emir that would permit women to vote and run in elections beginning in 2003 was not clear. However, because a two-thirds majority of 34 lawmakers would be required to block the decree, passage appeared likely. Of Kuwait’s 793,000 citizens, only the 113,000 men who can trace their Kuwaiti roots several generations can vote.