‘The desert democracy’ Thursday, 02 February 2012 01:34

Kuwaitis are going to the polls today for the fourth time in six years to elect their representatives to the National Assembly after the country’s Emir H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah dissolved the House last year following the then prime minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Sabah’s resignation in the face of following allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

Opposition lawmakers and protesters had even stormed the parliament building after a request by a group of MPs to question the former prime minister was blocked by the cabinet.

The Kuwaiti Emir has since named former Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah as prime minister.

Today’s election assumes added significance not only because it is the fourth time the Emir had to dissolve parliament and call for early elections but because it comes in the wake of the bribery and corruption scandal, dubbed as the “Kuwaiti Watergate”.

As the Arab Spring uprisings spread across the Middle East, Kuwait largely remained upheaval-free, but the storming of the parliament and the brief strike by some public sector workers show that the country is not immune to the rumblings of the Arab Spring. The difference is that, Arab Spring countries have changed, or want to change, their governments, while Kuwait is looking for reforms.

Kuwait has always prided itself of being the first Gulf state to gain independence in 1961 and have a fully-elected parliament with legislative powers in 1963 at a time when most GCC states were not yet independent. It is for this reason that the headline of this article was taken from one of the oldest articles about Kuwait democracy published by Time magazine in 1967. Lately, however, the parliament has become an arena of political infighting and wrestling ground for opposition and pro-government MPs.

There are around 400,000 Kuwaitis eligible to vote in today’s election, with 286 candidates vying for 50 seats in the parliament -- including 23 women who are hoping to improve the record set in 2009 when four women were first elected into the National Assembly.

Kuwait’s current government is something of a hybrid of parliamentary and presidential systems with the Ruler and the Cabinet -- composed of members of the ruling family -- having extensive powers. The Emir chooses the prime minister, who in turn selects his cabinet.

The country’s 50-member elected parliament has legislative and monitoring powers. The parliament has the power to question the prime minister and ministers and can vote them out of office on an individual basis.

Today’s parliamentary elections have become the platform to air out many issues facing the country.

One issue that has been dominating the election campaign is a call for reforms in Kuwait’s constitution to make it a constitutional monarchy. Calls to change Kuwait’s 1962 constitution are not new. In 1982, a government-led initiative to change 16 articles of the constitution was raised but it did not get enough support from the people. In addition, candidates also called for legislation that can cope with the changes in the constitution.

Another issue during this election was the possibility of creating a multi-party system. In the current law, political parties are not allowed so individual opposition politicians are forced to rely on forming blocs in parliament.

Some people are also calling for a change in the number of electoral districts from the current five to only one for the whole of Kuwait. In 1981, Kuwait was divided into 25districts wherein each can select 2 candidates to the parliament. This was changed in 2006 when legislation was passed to reduce the number to the current 5 districts.

One major point raised during the campaign was legislation that will curtail the prevalence of corruption and bribery in various government sectors, which was the reason for the crisis laeding to the current election.

There were also calls to change the tribal and sectarian bases when it comes to the election process into a more egalitarian system and focus more on equal citizenship and civic affiliation in order to ensure political pluralism in the country.

Other issues raised during the campaign included the plight of the “bedouns” or those who do not have Kuwaiti nationality and the slow pace of development due to constant and bitter political clashes in parliament, which further blocks speedy decision-making and passing of legislations and delays in crucial development projects.

The issues that were raised in Kuwait during this election campaign are the ones that are confronting other GCC states, though there might be some differences.

As the first country to adopt the democratic system of governance, Kuwait is a good barometer for the political climate in the GCC region. Most GCC countries that are still in the process of democratising their governments look to Kuwait as a model. This is why the outcome of Kuwait’s election will have a decisive impact on how other GCC states might proceed with their own democratic reforms.

Despite the many problems Kuwait has faced in its experiment with democracy, the election today acts as clean slate for Kuwait to start afresh and resolve the issues facing the previous government.

It has already taken steps to ensure the transparency and preserve the integrity of the election process by creating an election monitoring committee, comprising members of the Kuwaiti Transparency Society, Kuwait Lawyers Association and Kuwait Journalists Association. For the first time, civil society organs were given permission to establish centers at the assigned electoral police stations of the five constituencies.

A team of approximately 30 election supervisors from 18 countries were also invited to observe the electoral process while a special media centre has been provided for journalists covering the polls. All these indicate that Kuwait is doing all it can to ensure that elections are transparent, free and fair.

However, an unfortunate incident tarnished the elections. According to a report by Kuwait Times, angry tribesmen from the Al Mutair tribe torched the election headquarters of 3rd constituency candidate Mohammad Al-Juwaihel in Adailiya because of comments he had made during a rally earlier that insulted a 4th constituency candidate Dr. Obaid Al-Wasmi and the Mutair tribe. What was more unfortunate was that the authorities could not stop the fire because the roads were blocked by “nearly a thousand people gathered in front of Juwaihel’s burning campaign tent” according to the Kuwait Times report.

This incident does not bode well for Kuwait’s already fragile democratic system. It might be even used by those who are opposed to having democracy in their respective countries as a case in point of a democracy gone wrong.

In a column, Kuwait Times editor, Abd Al Rahman Al Alyan said this untimely incident “…is not a good sign for the development of the democratic icon of the Middle East that is Kuwait.”

We hope that Kuwaiti authorities will take strong action against the people responsible for this incident and ensure that this will not happen again in the future. Kuwait has to make a compelling stand in order to preserve its democratic way of life against those who are opposed to it.

As GCC citizens, we are looking to Kuwait as an example of the democratic process in action in a GCC state. We are hoping that the democratic system in that country will prevail, especially since Qatar is moving towards parliamentary elections in the middle of 2013 and Bahrain has made some reforms in its constitution to accommodate demands voiced during recent times in their country.

As the Arab Spring continues, Kuwait’s election is closely watched around the world. We hope that the elections would become a positive representation of how GCC monarchies can progress and move toward having constitutional monarchies in their respective countries.

The Peninsula