Aseel al-Awadhi (born 1969) is a former member of the National Assembly of Kuwait. She was a professor of philosophy at Kuwait University before entering politics. Al-Awadhi first stood for a seat on the National Assembly in 2008, losing the election but gaining the highest number of votes for a female candidate since women were allowed to stand. She was elected representative of Kuwait's Third District in 2009, a post she held until 2012.
After studying philosophy at Kuwait University, al-Awadhi earned her PhD in philosophy at the University of Texas. [1] Upon returning to Kuwait she became a professor of philosophy at Kuwait University. [2]
Al-Awadhi first stood in the 2008 general election as part of the National Democratic Alliance. She gained the highest number of votes received by a Kuwaiti woman since women were allowed to stand for the National Assembly in 2005, although she did not gain enough votes to win a seat.[ citation needed ] In the 2009 election she was elected representative for the third constituency while simultaneously becoming one of the first women to be elected to the National Assembly. [3]
As the first Kuwaiti women in parliament, Rola Dashti and Al-Awadhi did not wear the hijab when they took their seats as MPs in the National Assembly in 2008. This decision was criticized by several Islamist MPs, including Ali al-Omair. In 2009, Kuwait's top court officially ruled that veiling is optional for Kuwaiti women MPs in parliament. [4]
Al-Awadhi lost her seat in the February 2012 election but briefly returned to parliament after the previous parliament was dissolved by the Emir in June 2012. [5] She chose to boycott the December 2012 election in protest of the decision to reduce the number of votes per person from four to one. [6] She chose not to stand in the 2013 election. [7]
The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party.
The National Assembly was the unicameral legislature of Kuwait. The National Assembly met in Kuwait City. The National Assembly was made up of 50 elected members and 16 directly appointed government ministers.
Dame Eleanor Fulton Laing, is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Epping Forest from 1997 to 2024. She has served in the shadow cabinets of Michael Howard and David Cameron. From 2013 to 2024, Laing served as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons; from 2020, as Chairman of Ways and Means, making her the senior Deputy Speaker, and the first woman to hold this post. She has one of the longest tenures in the Speaker's Chair.
The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, to elect Members of Parliament to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom under the first-past-the-post system.
Madeleine Moon is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bridgend from 2005 to 2019, when she lost her seat to the Welsh Conservative candidate Jamie Wallis.
Katy Clark, is a British politician and life peer who has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West Scotland region since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for North Ayrshire and Arran from 2005 to 2015.
Women face widespread discrimination within Bahraini society and the country's political institutions. Women's rights have been a cornerstone of the political reforms initiated by King Hamad. The extension of equal political rights has been accompanied by a conscious drive to promote women to positions of authority within government. However, women in Bahrain continue to face gender inequality in many areas of life.
General elections were held in Morocco on 27 September 2002. The elections were the first since King Mohammed VI of Morocco had come to the throne in 1999 and international observers saw it as a test of his commitment to democracy. The election saw an Islamist party the Justice and Development Party make strong gains but the outgoing government kept a majority in the Assembly of Representatives.
Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 17 May 2008 after the Emir Sabah Al-Sabah dissolved the National Assembly of Kuwait on 19 March 2008 over constant clashes between the government and the elected MPs. The last elections were held less than two years previously and saw a loose alliance of reformists and Islamists gain almost two thirds of the seats.
Musallam Al-Barrak is a Kuwaiti politician. He was a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly representing the fourth district.
Abdulwahed Al-Awadhi is a former member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, representing the first district.
The first bill which would have given women the right to vote in Kuwait was put to the parliament in 1963. It was ultimately overturned due to pressure from the Al Sabah ruling family. Bills continued to be denied through 1985 and 1986. Kuwait then became heavily involved in the Iraq-Iran war, and women began demanding recognition for their efforts in keeping their families and society functional. The parliament agreed and the first woman was finally appointed as the ambassador of the Persian Gulf in 1993. In 1996, 500 women stopped working for an hour to show solidarity in their right for suffrage, and demonstrations continued throughout the next 6 years. In May 1999 a decree that allowed women the right to vote and run for office was issued by the emir; however, it was overruled again by the parliament 6 months later.
Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 16 May 2009, the country's third in a three-year period. Kuwait had voted on six occasions between 1991 and 2009. The turnout rate was 50%. The election was notable in that four women were elected for the first time since Kuwait gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1961.
Mark John Reckless is a British lawyer and former politician who served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales East from 2016 until 2021, having previously served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester and Strood from 2010 to 2015. Initially a member of the Conservative Party, he crossed the floor to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in September 2014. He has since changed parties a further three times.
Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 2 February 2012, the country's second general election in a three-year period. The election's turnout rate was 59%. However, in June 2012 the Constitutional Court declared the elections invalid and reinstated the former parliament. The court said the dissolution of Parliament in December 2011 by Emir Sabah Al-Sabah was unconstitutional. In response, opposition MPs resigned from parliament and demanded a full parliamentary system.
Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 1 December 2012 after early elections in February 2012 were declared invalid.
Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 27 July 2013. The elections were required after the Constitutional Court dissolved Parliament and annulled the results of the December 2012 elections. Voter turnout was an estimated 52.5%, which was higher than expected despite an opposition boycott, and only 7% lower than the non-boycotted February 2012 elections.
Safa Al Hashem is a politician who was an elected Member of Parliament to the Kuwait Parliament. In Kuwait history, she was the only female member to be elected to the Kuwait parliament consecutively more than two times. In 2020, she lost her seat after getting only 430 votes in 2020 compared to 3,273 in 2016.
Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 26 November 2016. They follow the dissolution of the parliament elected in 2013 by Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in October 2016. Under the constitution, elections must be held within two months. Opposition candidates won 24 of the 50 seats in the National Assembly. Voter turnout was around 70 percent.
Beauty Nomvuzo Dlulane is a South African politician who is currently serving as the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture in the National Assembly of South Africa. She has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in Parliament since 1997. Between 2012 and 2022, she was also a member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC.