Kuwait Times

Published Date: May 20, 2009

KUWAIT: MP Mohammed Hayef urged female MPs to wear hijabs and Islamic clothing while parliamentary sessions are in progress. Furthermore, Hayef threatened fellow MPs with 'dire consequences' if they intend to discuss the dual-citizenship issue. "I urge MPs who consider doing so to abandon it to avoid creating a crisis," he warned. He noted that this particular issue will have a negative impact on Kuwait's solidarity, reported Annahar. The MP-elect added that the poll results from the fourth constituency in
dicated popular support for Sharia. "The results were a clear message to those who attempted to distort the truth and undermine our political work," he concluded.

Meanwhile, an analysis of the votes received by Dr. Maassouma Al-Mubarak in the first constituency shows that she has been able to break two formidable barriers; tribal and gender. To begin with, she received votes from Sunnis, Shiites and the bedoons. Also, she was strongly favored by women voters. Al-Mubarak also garnered a remarkable achievement by bridging the gap between Sunni and Shiite voters in the first constituency, where these religious sects play an decisive role. She corralled 4,648 votes from
mixed voters boxes.

This amounts to more than 800 votes received by leading Sunni candidate Abdulla Al-Roumi (who gained 3,880 ) and a margin of 1,000 votes by Husain Al-Qallaf, the leading Shiite candidate. In addition to this, she received 7,810 votes from women (54.7%), and 6,437 votes from men (45.3%). These figures indicate a significant increase in the number of votes given by women voters to a female candidate when compared to previous elections.