[Reader-list] (KUWAIT) "Female MPs 'must' wear the headscarf"

[Kshmendra Kaul]

- " he regarded MPs who do not wear the headscarf to be in violation of election laws, adding that he would do everything in his power to enforce the law on female MPs who do not wear the headscarf."
 
- " he believed that Islam restricted women from participating in government and that Kuwaiti women should not be participants in parliament, citing the following Hadith by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH): "A group of people leaving their issues for a woman to look after will not prosper."  "

 
"Female MPs 'must' wear the headscarf" 
Published Date: May 21, 2009 
 
KUWAIT: Newly elected MP Mohammad Hayif Al-Mutairi recently said that he thought the reason behind Kuwaiti women's success in reaching parliament this election was a result of the dynamics and structure in the districts that the candidates came from. He added that a lack of coordination between some candidates and "outside interference" also gave women an advantage. In later statements, Hayif also maintained that he regarded MPs who do not wear the headscarf to be in violation of election laws, adding that
he would do everything in his power to enforce the law on female MPs who do not wear the headscarf. The MP said his statements were based on elements of Sharia law.

In his statement, he also said that any person elected to parliament must first defend the Constitution and respect the laws of the country themselves, saying that the headscarf was an obligation for Muslim women and that not wearing it violated Sharia law, which should be followed more closely than man-made laws, he said. Furthermore, Hayif said he believed that Islam restricted women from participating in government and that Kuwaiti women should not be participants in parliament, citing the following Had
ith by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH): "A group of people leaving their issues for a woman to look after will not prosper.

Hayif asserted that he and his fellow Islamists were studying the possibility of boycotting the oath-taking session if the female MPs take their oaths without wearing the headscarf. They said that the enforcement of election laws were important and that someone must stand up for them. In related news, Hayif commented on the possibility of HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah returning to parliament as prime minister. The MP said that the selection of the prime minister was the right of HH the Amir alone
and that he would welcome any decision that he made. Hayif added that he looked forward to working with a prime minister with good qualifications and a sense of responsibility in the coming National Assembly.

The newly elected MP maintained that he would continue to live up to his Constitutional and jurisdictional obligations to parliament and said that the large number of votes he received in the election indicated the high degree of trust voters in his district placed in him, Al-Watan reported. In response to a question about whether or not Hayif and fellow Islamists would consider votes casted by female MPs to be legal or not, the MP maintained that if such a case were to persist in the National Assembly, he
and his colleagues would put the best interests of Kuwait first, which he said is always the top priority.

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