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WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
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| Kuwaitis go to the polls |
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Sunday, May 18, 2008
KUWAIT: Kuwaitis voted in a parliamentary election on Saturday that they hoped would bring in fresh faces able to bury political feuds and push through economic reforms.
Some 275 candidates are running for the 50-seat National Assembly, among them 27 women hoping for their first success after failing to win a single seat in 2006.
Women won the right to vote and stand for office in 2005 but face an uphill struggle attracting voters in a Gulf Arab country where many still believe a woman’s place is in the home.
“I’m against women in parliament. I think everybody should stay in his place,” said Samira al-Azm, a voter in her fifties.
Nearly 362,000 Kuwaitis, over half of them women, are eligible to vote, but voting began slowly on a hot, dusty weekend morning. Kuwait’s ruler, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, dissolved parliament in March to end a standoff with the cabinet that had delayed economic reforms aimed at preparing Kuwait for the era when its vast oil reserves run out.
“Oh voter - which Kuwait do you want?” said the daily al-Rai in an editorial, urging voters to back candidates who put national interest first. The last assembly focused on questioning ministers over their conduct, forcing several to resign. The major OPEC producer has yet to appoint an oil minister since Badr al-Humaidhi resigned in November.
Amid the political squabbles, reforms such as a bill to attract foreign investment were left on the back burner.
Kuwait’s stock market, the second-largest Arab market, initially rose after parliament was dissolved on hopes the new chamber would be more business-friendly, but has since shed gains.
“Investors now want to see some action,” said Mustafa Behbehani, a director at Gulf Consulting Co in Kuwait.
The two-month campaign has been marred by protests, arrests and confusion after a new law redrew electoral districts to ensure a more balanced representation in a parliament that has tended to be dominated by Islamist blocs and tribal alliances.
Candidates have also been detained on vote-buying allegations and, under the new rules that have cut the number of constituencies from 25 to five, no one can predict who will win. But analysts said the main Islamist and tribal blocs, already influential and established, were likely to perform well in the large constituencies where independents may struggle.
Kuwait, which sits on 10 per cent of the world’s oil, wants to wean its economy off energy exports and emulate the success of neighbours like Dubai and Bahrain which have transformed themselves into financial centres and tourist destinations.
Oil makes up over 90 per cent of Kuwaiti government revenues and 55 per cent of the gross domestic product in 2006, according to official data. That compares to 3 per cent of GDP in Dubai.
Part of the problem is that ordinary Kuwaitis oppose reforms that would cut their benefits. They pay no taxes and are content with state jobs and handouts and free health and schools. Many Kuwaitis are also fed up with a state which, despite its oil wealth, allows roads, hospitals and schools to crumble.
Reforms will be even harder to push through with global food prices rising and inflation at a record 9.5 per cent in January.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
