Kuwaiti women in parliament for 1st time

New Kuwaiti lawmaker Aseel al-Awadhi Kuwaiti women have managed to put an end to the men-only era of their country's parliament by winning elections for the first time. The Kuwaiti women's success to win four seats in the parliament is a resounding victory in the Persian Gulf country where parliaments had only male lawmakers for almost five decades. Kuwaiti women were granted political rights just four years ago and the new comers to the political arena failed to make any gains in two previous elections, AP reported. According to partial official results read by judges Sunday, Massouma al-Mubarak, the country's first female Cabinet minister, became a lawmaker. She is an independent Shiite. The other winners were Westernized liberal Aseel al-Awadhi, women's rights activist Rola Dashti, and independent university teacher Salwa al-Jassar. Kuwait, which is the world's fourth largest oil exporter, has no political parties but conservative Islamic candidates and tribal figures who have opposed government economic plans are expected to dominate the parliament again. Sixteen women were among the 210 candidates who ran for the parliament's 50 seats. MGH/DT