Kuwait's top court on Tuesday rejected a bid to give women the right to vote in the emirate after an 18-month campaign for equal political status, reported AFP.
The case had been brought to the constitutional court by a Kuwaiti man.
"I expected the verdict because the government is controlled by Islamists, who previously rejected the bill in the National Assembly" in November 1999, the plaintiff, Adnan Hussein al-Issa, told AFP.
In July 2000, the same court, whose verdicts are final, dismissed four cases filed by women arguing that Kuwait's electoral law that bars females from voting was unconstitutional, said the agency.
According to a study published by Aboout.com in the latter part of last year, female suffrage would bring Kuwait more inline with other Arab countries with elected parliaments.
Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, among others, all have universal suffrage.
Kuwait is the only country among the six Arab countries in the Gulf to have a parliament.
Female suffrage in Kuwait, said About.com, ought to be placed in the proper context. Political rights for anyone, male or female, are extremely limited, the parliament is a very weak body with virtually no ability to act independently -- Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
