Kuwait City - A calvacade of Kuwaiti women drove to the emir's palace yesterday to hail his decision to give them the vote.
The emir, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, hosted a rally at his palace, a day after an announcement that women would be allowed to vote and stand as candidates in parliamentary and municipal polls from 2003.
Kuwait's press was unanimous in welcoming the decree and said it was long overdue, but dissenting voices came from leading Kuwaiti clerics, who disputed the suitability of women to hold public office in a Muslim country.