Only One Woman To Run In Kuwait Municipal Polls

Only one woman, Fatima Al Rasheedi, will be contesting in Kuwait's municipal elections next month compared with the 72 men who signed up their names.

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2018 ) :Only one woman, Fatima Al Rasheedi, will be contesting in Kuwait's municipal elections next month compared with the 72 men who signed up their Names.

According to Gulf news, Kuwait typically has low female representation, but the number marks a sharp decrease from the last election in 2013 where four women registered to run. Municipal elections usually generate less excitement than parliamentary polls among voters.

The Fourth District is leading with 17 candidates, followed by the Third District with 13 candidates, the eighth with nine, the sixth with seven, including one woman, the ninth with six, the fifth and tenth with five each, the first and second with four each and seventh with three candidates.

The assistant director general for legal affairs in elections Salah Shatti said that the education ministry would provide 102 schools that would be used as polling stations in the elections on May 12.

Candidates who want to pull out of the race have until the end of the working hours on May 4 to withdraw their applications, he said. "They must submit a handwritten letter stating their intention to withdraw," he said.

If candidates in a specific district withdraw and only one remains in the race, he or she is automatically elected, Al Shatti added. Municipal elections are held in Kuwait every four years with the winners of the ten districts forming the Municipal Council.

Six other members are appointed by the prime minister, bringing the total number of the council to 16. The council elects its own chairman and vice chairman. Women were given the right to vote and run in parliamentary and municipal elections in 2005. Only one woman was elected Member of Parliament in November last year.