Safa Al Hashem (born April 14, 1964) is a businesswoman and a politician. She was an elected member of to the Kuwait Parliament from 2012 to 2020. She was the only woman to win a seat at the Kuwait Parliament two consecutive times.

Education

Al Hashem obtained a degree in English literature from

Kuwait University Kuwait University (, abbreviated as Kuniv) is a public university located in Kuwait City, Kuwait. History Kuwait University (KU), (in Arabic: جامعة الكويت), was established in October 1966 under Act N. 29/1966. The university was of ...

and completed her MBA from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. She also has a post-graduate executive education diploma from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. In 2011, she was awarded a Ph.D. (

Honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

) by the

American University of Technology American University of Technology (AUT), is a private university established in Lebanon. It was founded in 1998 by Ghada Hinain near Byblos. The university is directed by an appointed Board of Trustees. AUT's mission is to provide non-sectaria ...

Career

Al Hashem worked for the government in the Ministry of Higher Education. She later worked in various private companies being associated with PIC,

PWC PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a Multinational corporation, multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Fo ...

and the KIPCO Group. Al Hashem then started Advantage Consulting in partnership with KIPCO and Gulf One Investment Bank, Bahrain. Al Hashem first stood for elections for 3rd Constituency in 2012 and won. After this parliament was annulled, she stood again from the same constituency and won again. In the 2012 assembly, she served as the

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

of the Economic and Financial Affairs committee, and was a member of the Response to the Amiri Address and Foreign Affairs committees. Al Hashem took a public stance against foreigners living in Kuwait, recommending that foreigners should be banned from obtaining driving licenses and should be taxed to walk on the country's streets. she was reelected in 2016. In 2020, she lost her seat after getting only 430 votes in 2020 compared to 3,273 in 2016. Her loss was followed by a thread of hurtful comments on social media.

Awards

* 2009: Business Woman of the Year at the Middle East Business Achievement Awards * 2007: Female CEO of the year - CEO Middle East Awards

References

1964 births Living people Kuwaiti women in politics 21st-century women politicians Members of the National Assembly (Kuwait) Kuwait University alumni Harvard Business School alumni {{Kuwait-politician-stub