2006年VOA标准英语-Kuwaiti Women Appear on Political Landscape Thi

By Challiss McDonough
Kuwait City
28 June 2006

Kuwaiti voters will go to the polls Thursday in a historic parliamentary election. Women will be allowed to vote for the first time, and 28 women are running for office.

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Rola Dashti's campaign headquarters is overflowing¹. Women sit on one side of the large white canvas tent, and men on the other. But the women's seats are full, and the ladies have spilled across the aisle² into the men's section. After the speeches, it is time for dinner.

There are separate buffet³ tables for men and women.

Simply having women at campaign rallies like this is new. Kuwaiti women have never been able to vote for parliament before, let alone run for office. On Thursday, they are doing both.

Rola Dashti, left, shares a light moment with supporters at her campaign's headquarters in Jabriya, Kuwait City, June 28, 2006   
  
At her final campaign rally, Rola Dashti spends hours talking one-on-one with voters in the sweltering heat. She is a political novice⁴, but she works the crowd like a veteran.

Although 28 women are running for parliament, Dashti is one of only two who are seen as having any realistic chance of winning. And even she acknowledges that she is still somewhat of a long shot.

"People, they think I'm over-optimistic. But I do see we're going to make it," said Dashti.

Dashti has made a career of defying expectations. She comes from a large, traditional Shi'ite family. Her late father, himself a member of parliament, had four wives, and she has 23 brothers and sisters. She is happily single at the age of 42, and wears her hair uncovered, pulled back in a neat pony⁵ tail.

"If I just put [on] the hijab today, I'll gain six or seven hundred votes, but I'm not going to do this," she said.

As a candidate, Rola Dashti's resume demands that she be taken seriously. She is a PhD economist⁶, elected two years ago to head influential⁷ Kuwaiti Economic Society. A longtime activist⁸, she led fight to get Kuwaiti women the vote. And at her final campaign rally, her many female supporters were looking forward to exercising their new right, including 31-year-old Nashoor Najaf.

"Of course. Sure," she said. "We were waiting for this moment for 15 years. "This is our first time for feeling that we are really human beings, we are equally together, men and women."

 
Political activist Luluwa al-Qatami, right, gives a speech to mixed-gender audience during election rally for candidate Abdullah al-Nibari in Kuwait City, June 24, 2006 
  
Kuwait's parliament gave women the right to vote last year, and that decision has changed Kuwait's electoral calculus⁹ completely. For one thing, women on the voters' roll now thoroughly¹⁰ outnumber the men, in part because all Kuwaiti women were automatically registered to vote, which is not true of men.

Soud al-Otabi, a supporter of an Islamist candidate in the conservative Rubiya district, points out the rather startling voter demographics there.

"In this district, we're talking about 12,000 women against 8,000 men. So 12,000 votes will make a big difference, and I think the candidate that can win the support of women, certainly he will make it to the parliament," said al-Otabi.

So in just over a year, Kuwaiti women have gone from politically voiceless to a political power to be reckoned with. Conservative politicians who last year opposed giving women the right vote are today actively¹¹ seeking their support, much to Rola Dashti's satisfaction.

"There is a huge transformation¹² in the society," said Dashti. "When men who were against women's political rights [are] addressing women's issues and telling them, I do care about your issues, this is great! Although we just keep reminding the women, these voted against you, don't give them your vote."

Women will not necessarily vote for female candidates, and since there are no past voting patterns to analyze¹³, it is not clear how their political debut¹⁴ will affect the outcome of the poll. Both the Islamist and liberal opposition¹⁵ groups are hoping to pick up several seats.

Islamist lawmaker Deif Allah, who is allied¹⁶ with the local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood¹⁷, says in other elections, women voters have tended to support conservative candidates.

Political scientist Ghanem al-Najjar of Kuwait University says it is unlikely that any of the female candidates will win, but he says that is not really the issue.

"For me, it is not the women, whether they win or not," said al-Najjar. "I think the success of women is already felt. It is not by being members of parliament, it is by influencing the process. And already they are influencing and having a great impact on the political process."

This election is coming a year ahead of schedule. After a dispute over electoral redistricting, Kuwait's emir dissolved parliament five weeks ago, calling early elections that took all the candidates, male and female alike, by surprise.

Rola Dashti had been planning her run for office since the day women got the right to vote, but she acknowledges that the accelerated timeline has disrupted her plans. If the election were held next year, she feels confident that at least three women would win. As it is, she is trying to stay optimistic.

If she and the other female candidates fail to win a seat in parliament this time, she says she will not give up.

"I'm continuing the battle," said Dashti. "Women have to be in parliament in Kuwait, no ifs or buts about it. Women should be engaged in politics, no ifs or buts about it. And we will be keeping our work, and our struggle, so women are in parliament."

1 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

2 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

3 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

4 novice   

adj.新手的，生手的

参考例句：

• As a novice writer,this is something I'm interested in.作为初涉写作的人，我对此很感兴趣。
• She realized that she was a novice.她知道自己初出茅庐。

5 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

8 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

9 calculus   

n.微积分；结石

参考例句：

• This is a problem where calculus won't help at all.对于这一题，微积分一点也用不上。
• After studying differential calculus you will be able to solve these mathematical problems.学了微积分之后，你们就能够解这些数学题了。

10 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

11 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

12 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

13 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

14 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

15 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

16 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

17 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。