Kuwait's first parliamentary elections in which women could vote were a victory for political reformists but a disappointment for female candidates, according to results released today.
Thirty-six of those who won seats in the 50-seat house were reformists, according to results of Thursday's vote published by the state-owned Kuwait News Agency. Twenty-one of them held seats in the previous parliament that the emir, Kuwait's ruler, dissolved last month.
There were 27 women running in the elections, but none of them won a seat. Female voters accounted for 57 per cent of the electorate.
It was not immediately possible to tell how close any of them came to winning because the comprehensive vote count had not been released.
Women, who won the right to vote and run for office in the small oil-rich state last year, had only a few weeks to prepare for the vote after the emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, disbanded the house because he believed a dispute over electoral precincts was harming national unity.
"Society will need time to accept women," activist Iqbal al-Ahmed told Kuwait TV late Thursday when initial results showed that most female hopefuls were faring poorly. "I am disappointed," she added.
The election sparked a surprisingly strong campaign for reform in Kuwait, where the ruling Al Sabah family has long headed the government and maintains a strong influence on politics.
Reformist candidates - who include Islamic fundamentalists and secular activists - spoke out harshly against corruption, accusing ministers and even members of the ruling family of mismanagement and wasting state land.