Kuwait Says No to Woman Vote?

The "non-vote" was surprising close! It would have been unheard of several years ago to have this much support.

(Kuwait) "Islamist and conservative lawmakers abstained from voting in the final reading of the government-backed law.

Correspondents say the opponents of the bill abstained, allowing them to put off a result while avoiding angering the government.

A member of parliament said the bill would face another vote on Tuesday.

In 1999, Kuwaiti lawmakers narrowly defeated a similar bill on women's rights tabled by liberals.

Confusion

Twenty-nine members of parliament voted for the law, while the same number abstained and two voted against.

Parliamentary speaker Jassem al-Khorafi told the house that the bill was 'neither accepted nor rejected'.

Under parliamentary rules, abstaining MPs are counted as absent, meaning the chamber did not achieve the required quorum of 33. This effectively leaves the legislation in limbo.

There is some confusion as to the next step for law. Backers of the law said there would be another vote on the bill on Tuesday, as called for by the speaker of parliament.

Opponents of the bill say such a vote would be unconstitutional. - BBC

Kuwait remains a male dominated society but at least some headway is being made toward accepting western ideas of gender equality. Islamic fundamentalism still maintains a cultural foothold and is a problem to furthering western civilized thinking and behavior.