By Majd Othman
KUWAIT: The Women’s Cultural and Social Society held an introductory conference on Monday featuring a number of women candidates running in the coming National Assembly elections. The conference was titled "Women’s Role in Changing the Political Scene”, where the candidates reviewed their electoral programs and discussed the main causes, they are willing to adopt when they reach the Assembly.
Candidate from the third district and former representative in the annulled 2022 Assembly Jenan Bushehri said the country’s political stability is the most important factor that should be taken into account to achieve a better future for Kuwait. She said with the current instability, it is impossible to resolve any problems or open files that are slowing the country’s development and impeding reforms.
"The stage of political stability requires political reforms, the most important of which is our electoral law, which strengthens individual actions in the National Assembly, and this is one of the reasons for the deterioration of political work in Abdullah Al-Salem Hall. The time has come for a review of the electoral system, in addition to setting up a supreme electoral commission. Everyone is talking about fraud and forgery, so it is time to set priorities for political reforms for the next stage,” she added.
Bushehri explained that despite the short time representatives had in the scrapped Assembly, women’s issues were and are still one of the most important causes she is working on with other women candidates. She mentioned that in the previous Assembly, she and representative Alia Al-Khaled succeeded in submitting a law on civil rights of children of Kuwaiti women, as the women’s society had a big role in it. "Women’s issues are numerous, and all of them should be on the table in the coming Assembly,” she said.
On the other hand, Bushehri pointed out the government is responsible for submitting its program, while Assembly representatives are responsible to help the government in setting laws and legislations or at least amend the current ones to be able to implement its program. She added the government should be held accountable if it shirks its responsibilities.
"The current political scene shows all existing women’s laws are due to the efforts of Kuwaiti women and not Assembly members, as they deserved it and changed the political scene in Kuwait. Therefore, we hope for more women to reach the Assembly,” Bushehri said. Speaking to Kuwait Times, Bushehri urged Kuwaiti youth to vote in the elections. "Whatever the country is suffering from, the Kuwaiti people can rise and achieve development on June 6.”
Candidate Alia Al-Khaled stressed the main issues the government should focus on are education and the economy. "These are two sides of the same coin. There will be no economy without education, and no education without a real and successful economy,” she said. Khaled said the current generation suffers from old laws and legislations that are away from their efficiency, as the world today is in the middle of the great industrial revolution, and the country is late in reaching it.
The conference included a number of new women hopefuls — first district candidates Aziza Al-Bannai and Anood Al-Enezi, fourth district candidates Anwar Al-Qahtani, Fahima Al-Rashidi and Noor Al-Mutairi, second district candidate Wedad Al-Habib and third district candidate Salwa Al-Saeed. The new candidates are adopting most Kuwaiti women’s issues, whether women’s political rights and rights of children of Kuwaiti citizens, in addition to their claims for better equal opportunities for women in Kuwait to reach the parliament and hold senior positions.