Aseel al-Awadhi

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Aseel al-Awadhi (born 1969) is a former Kuwaiti member of parliament and a philosophy professor. She taught at Kuwait University before entering politics. She first ran in 2008 but did not win, though she received the highest number of votes for a Kuwaiti woman since women could stand for election. In 2009 she was elected to Kuwait’s National Assembly representing the Third District and served until 2012. She studied philosophy at Kuwait University and earned a PhD in philosophy from the University of Texas, then returned to Kuwait to teach at Kuwait University. In 2008 she ran with the National Democratic Alliance. She and fellow first-time female MP Rola Dashti did not wear the hijab when they took their seats, a move that drew criticism from some Islamist MPs. In 2009 Kuwait’s top court ruled that veiling is optional for women MPs. Al-Awadhi lost her seat in February 2012 but briefly returned after the previous parliament was dissolved in June 2012. She boycotted the December 2012 election to protest reducing the number of votes per person from four to one and did not run in the 2013 election.