I know that the third round of municipal elections in Saudi Arabia are coming up, so I checked out Arab News, which has a lot of material up, but I came upon this article noting that legislation had been passed in Kuwait allowing women to both vote and participate in municipal elections.

KUWAIT CITY, 20 April 2005 ???????? In a first step toward granting women full political rights, Kuwaiti lawmakers agreed yesterday to allow women to vote and run in local council elections, but the measure requires more legislative action before it would become law.

The measure was taken on a 26-20 vote for women????????s participation with three abstentions. The session was attended by more than three quarters of the 64 lawmakers and Cabinet ministers entitled to vote.

A second reading of the bill and a second vote, expected in two weeks, was required before the bill becomes a law. Then it would require the Kuwaiti ruler????????s signature, generally a formality and the emir has made clear in the past he supports women????????s political rights.

???????Thank God, the first step toward women????????s rights has been completed … We are waiting for the major step and I am sure it will be approved like this one,??????? Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said.

???????I congratulate my sisters for obtaining their rights in municipal elections and they will get their other rights in voting and standing in parliamentary elections,??????? he told reporters after the vote.

The premier said he was confident Kuwaiti women would get their full political rights during the current parliamentary term which ends in June and said he would appoint a female Cabinet minister once women are enfranchised. ???????This step prepares the ground for women????????s political rights in full at Parliament,??????? said Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Sharar.

This is a great first step. The last bill to grace the legislature to allow full voting rights for women was narrowly defeated in 1999, but given the internal and geopolitical changes since then, it is quite possible that women will have full suffrage by the end of this parliament’s tenure in June.