Kuwait, under new emir, votes yet again

KUWAIT CITY: Vote-weary Kuwait heads to the polls for the third time in three years on Thursday, just months into the reign of a new emir but with no end in sight to the major oil exporter’s chronic political paralysis.

Elections have become an almost annual occurrence for the OPEC member country, which has seven percent of the world’s oil reserves and the monarchical Gulf’s most powerful elected assembly.

However, the parliament’s clashes with the royal-appointed cabinet have led to a cycle of stalemate, dissolution and fresh elections, delaying much-needed reforms.

Almost 835,000 voters are eligible to choose 50 MPs from 200 candidates, including just 13 women, in only the second Kuwaiti election held during the Muslim holy month of Ramazan.

Polls opened from 12:00 pm and will close at 12:00 am (0900-2100 GMT). “Kuwait’s participatory politics is unmatched in the region,” Kuwait University political analyst Bader al-Saif said.

“Its system requires a reset and urgently needed reforms no doubt, but the fact that it enables its citizens to express themselves and have a say in governance makes it different.”

Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, formerly the world’s oldest crown prince, came to power aged 83 in December after the death of his half-brother and predecessor, Sheikh Nawaf.

He took aim at both the cabinet and parliament in his inaugural speech to the assembly, and then announced an era of “reform” as he picked Kuwait’s first foreign minister from outside the ruling family.

But in February, the national assembly was dissolved once again, accused in a royal decree of constitutional violations including “offensive and inappropriate language”, after a lawmaker responded to the emir’s criticism.

Thursday’s polls — the third since 2022, and the fourth in five years — are unusual as the incoming parliament will be tasked with approving Sheikh Meshal’s choice of crown prince, Kuwait’s future emir.

If the assembly takes the unprecedented step of rejecting his heir, Sheikh Meshal will submit three candidates for the parliamentarians to choose from.

“This democratic process is different from the previous ones,” said Ibrahim Dashti, one of the election candidates.

“The next parliament may contribute to determining who will be the crown prince, that is, who will be the next emir of Kuwait,” he added.