Thirty-two women are among 380 hopefuls standing in the June 29 polls.
So far, 26 male and one female candidate have pulled out. Others are expected to do so before the June 24 deadline, either because they decide that their chances of victory are too slim or because they have struck deals with other candidates.
The elections were called after the emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, dissolved parliament on May 21 following a standoff between the government and opposition MPs over electoral reform.
"This is the first time Kuwaiti women are taking part in the election. They will make history" by winning seats, declared female candidate Rula Dashti at a public meeting on Monday to kick off her campaign.
"I want you to vote for me not because I am a woman but rather because I carry your concerns," Dashti, the chairwoman of Kuwait Economic Society, told a large gathering of men and women who came to listen to her program.
The US-educated rights activist has been at the forefront of the campaign that earned women their full political rights.
Dashti, in her thirties, said that if elected she would work against corruption, focus on family related legislation and push key economic bills.
In an historic vote in May 2005 year, parliament passed a law giving women the right to vote and to run for public office.
"We desperately need a woman in parliament to debate and amend some existing laws and propose new legislation," concerning women affairs, candidate Nabila Al Anjari said at a meeting for Kuwaiti women candidates.
Anjari, a former assistant undersecretary for tourism affairs, is running along with Dashti and four other women in the same constituency of Udailiya, some 10 kilometers (six miles) south of Kuwait City.
Women complain of discriminatory treatment under Kuwaiti law, especially with regards to housing, nationality for their children and employment.
Besides Dashti, two other women candidates, Aisha Al Rasheed, a journalist, and Khaleda Al Khader, a practicing doctor, have launched their campaigns, attracting large crowds of men and women.
"I came here to extend my support to women. It is an excellent thing for Kuwait," to allow women to vote and stand in election, 65-year-old Youssef Al Omar Said at Rasheed's election gathering.
Asked if he would vote for women, Omar said "I will vote for the best."
Women candidates are counting on the fact that eligible female voters largely outnumber their male counterparts.
The number of eligible women voters is 195,000 against 145,000 men, mainly because military personnel, almost all male, are barred from voting.
Women voters outnumber men in 21 of the 25 constituencies, and in some districts by large margins. However, there is no indication whether they will vote for women candidates.
Females are running in 15 of the constituencies, eight of which are in highly conservative tribal areas where women are still required to wear the abaya and cover their faces.
"We should be proud that today we are making history and, God willing, we will achieve victory on June 29," Ali Al Mussa, a former planning minister, said at Dashti's campaign, urging the audience to vote for her.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
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