The decision to appoint them was taken by new justice and Awqaf minister Yacoub Al- Sane who earlier this week signed a decision to appoint them after months of delay amid opposition by Islamist MPs who strongly oppose the issue. The new move paves the way for Kuwaiti women to be appointed as judges for the first time because public prosecutors are promoted to eventually become judges. Islamist MPs and activists deplored the decision saying that under Islamic Sharia, women cannot become judges.
They held a press conference two days ago to criticize the decision by the new minister. At the conference, MP Humoud Al-Hamdan announced that he and other Islamist MPs are preparing to submit a draft law to ban the appointment of women as judges because that contradicts with Islamic teachings. In a related development, a number of Islamist MPs yesterday submitted a draft law calling to ban the entry into the country of all foreigners who are proven to have insulted Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) companions, his wives or have abused the religion, MP Abdulrahman Al- Jeeran said.
The move came following the controversy over an Iraqi Shiite cleric who came into Kuwait on the occasion of Ashura. Sunni MPs and activists accused the cleric of having insulted the Prophet’s (PBUH) wife Aisha and demanded his expulsion. Shiite MPs have responded by calling on critics to go to court if they have anything against the cleric. MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan meanwhile yesterday criticized State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah for saying that the budget will be reshuffled following the sharp drop in oil prices. Duwaisan asked the minister how can call for belttightening measures in the presence of huge fiscal reserves made from large budget surpluses in the past several years. The lawmaker said that it is time to use these reserves instead of reducing the budget.
