Kuwait's parliament on Monday failed to pass a law giving women in the right for the first time to vote and stand in municipal elections.
After 29 lawmakers voted in favor of the legislation while the same number abstained and two voted against, speaker Jassem al-Khorafi told the house that the bill was "neither accepted nor rejected".
The legislation, which is fiercely opposed by Islamist and tribal MPs, "is in limbo", Khorafi added.
On his part, Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Monday termed as "unsatisfactory" the parliament's suspension of voting on the third article of the municipality law. He added, however, that he was happy because the municipality law would have another voting chance, as he hoped voting in the next reading would be "positive."
