Women's manifesto has hardly changed

They are smart, ambitious and vivacious. And they have strong hearts determined to build on past successes to elevate Kuwaiti women into the national mainstream. In the West, women running for high office inevitably draw comparisons with the Iron Lady image of Margaret Thatcher. Kuwaiti women contesting elections have to be twice as tough. "One of my priorities will be fulfilling the wishes of Kuwaiti women," Dr Sabah Al Moemen, a candidate from the first constituency, declared at her campaign launch. "There is still a long way to go to meet the demands of the Kuwaiti woman as she does not yet fully enjoy her rights. Without the invigoration of the laws supporting their rights, women will remain on the sidelines," she was quoted as saying by Kuwait News Agency. Immediate agenda Article continues below Measures that Dr Sabah intends to introduce if she is elected include giving new mothers a two-year leave from work. Women should also be allowed to handle their own financial matters and official transactions in line with the text and spirit of the constitution that clearly stipulates equality in rights and duties between the sexes, she said. "Women should also be able to charter the future of their country and feel gratified about what they can give to their country," Dr Sabah said. "They seem to be the eternal losers in the cases of divorce and we need to introduce and assert changes of mindset that will make people more ready to accept changes that allow women and men to build their nation together and with inspirational visions."