Kuwait Times

Published Date: October 29, 2009
By B Izzak, Staff writer

KUWAIT: In a day full of political drama, the constitutional court yesterday ruled that hijab is not needed for women in politics, while MPs threatened to grill the interior and public works minister. In a landmark ruling, the constitutional court, chaired by Youssef Al-Rasheed, dismissed a lawsuit challenging the election of female MPs Aseel Al-Awadhi and Rola Dashti for not wearing the hijab.

The challenger, Hamad Abdulaziz Al-Nashi, a voter from the third constituency from where the two MPs were elected, claimed that the membership of the two women should be nullified because they violated the elections law. Al-Nashi argued the first article of the election law states that women voters and candidates must abide by sharia law regulations, which according to him, include wearing the hijab.

But the court said that the text in the law was not specific and failed to define the exact nature of the regulations. It also added that the constitution, which is above the law, clearly guarantees personal freedom and does not discriminate among people because of their gender and religion. The ruling came despite a fatwa, or religious edict, that was issued earlier this month by the Fatwa Department of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, stating that it is an obligation for Muslim women to wear th
e hijab.

This is not just a victory for myself and my colleague Rola, but a victory for the constitution. Wearing the veil or not does not have an effect on our performance and dedication to serving citizens who elected us," Awadhi said.

A few weeks ago, the constitutional court scrapped an article in the passports law which required women to seek the prior approval of their husband in order to be able to obtain their own passport. The Assembly approved a suffrage bill in 2005 but fundamentalists added an obscure last-minute article saying women have to abide by the rules of sharia when they exercise their political rights.

Although the majority of women in Kuwait wear the hijab, covering up is not compulsory in this country as it is in the ultraconservative neighboring Saudi Arabia. For about two decades, Muslim fundamentalists have been trying to make Islamic law the sole source of legislation in Kuwait instead of a "main source" as it has been so far. They have succeeded through moves in parliament in clamping down on public entertainment and banning coeducation at universities. Their political foes, Westernized liberals,
have become much fewer and less organized.

In another development, one day after the inaugural session of the new Assembly term, MPs made serious threats to grill the interior and public works minister. Veteran opposition leader MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun called on the prime minister to sack Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah by Nov 17 "or else we will file a request to grill him for misleading the National Assembly".

Saadoun, head of the opposition Popular Action Bloc, told reporters that he and other MPs were disappointed that despite criticism and violations, the prime minister kept Sheikh Jaber in the Cabinet. "We had planned to file the grilling on the first day of the new term, but later decided to delay this until the issue of consumer loans of citizens is debated on Nov 17," Saadoun said.

The interior minister has been increasingly under pressure to step down after MPs alleged that he provided the Assembly false information during his grilling on June 23. Several MPs have already called for his resignation. But liberal MP Ali Al-Rashed called on the prime minister not to bow to pressure by sacking the interior minister, insisting his opponents will not succeed in unseating the minister in a new grilling.

Also, MP Mubarak Al-Waalan said he has decided to file a request to grill Minister of Public Works and Municipality Fadhel Safar over a large number of violations committed in his two ministries.