Opposed Women's Suffrage
On May 3, 2005, Al-Tabtabaie helped create a constitutional roadblock that effectively killed a measure that would have allowed women to participate in city council elections for the first time. The new law which would give Kuwaiti women the right to vote was initially by the National Assembly on April 19, but in accordance with the Kuwaiti constitution it faced a second vote for ratification on May 2. But Parliament ended in deadlock on May 2 when 29 members abstained and only 29 voted for it, leaving the legislation just shy of the 33 votes needed.
Al-Tabtabai argued, "We have no problem with women voting, but we do have a problem with women standing for elections. Islam dictates that the head of the nation must be a man, and we are technically the head of the nation here."
Efforts to resume voting on the measure on May 3 failed when opponents argued that it had already been rejected and that any new vote would therefore be unconstitutional. In a surprise move, the prime minister, Sheik Sabah al-Jaber al-Sabah, shelved the issue for two more weeks. On May 17, 2005 the Kuwaiti parliament voted to give women full political rights.
Read more about this topic: Waleed Al-Tabtabaie
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