Kuwaitis Set For Parliamentary Polls

Kuwait City, Kuwait (AHN) - The stage is set for the fifth largest oil-exporting nation, Kuwait, to hold its National Assembly elections on Saturday.

Some 275 candidates, including 27 women, are in the fray, contesting for 50 seats in the legislative body. Under the previous electoral system, voters were divided into 25 districts represented by two MPs each. According to the new system, 10 representatives are elected to each of five districts. Voters can cast no more than four votes.

According to the Kuwait News Agency, there are 361,684 registered eligible voters, with 161,185 men (44.6 percent) and 200,499 women (55.4 percent). Up to 1,180 female volunteers will be deployed at polling stations to ease the job of female voters seeking to exercise their franchise.

Three governments have resigned over the past two years in Kuwait, and voters and candidates have been busy during this period. The government was in a political battle with the outgoing parliament that frequently used its legal tool of "grilling" ministers, which was seen as a challenge to the ruling Al Sabah family.

The grilling saw the resignation of Dr. Massouma al-Mubarak, the first female cabinet minister. Nouriya al-Sabeeh was the only woman minister who managed to survive a vote of confidence from MPs.

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah issued Amiri Decree 98/2008 on April 9 calling for elections on May 17. The elections remained on schedule despite the recent death of former Emir Shaikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah.

One of the key political issues raised by candidates is the soaring oil revenue the government enjoys, according to the Associated Press, which reported that candidates were pushing the authorities to use the influx of cash to pay off citizens' consumer debt.

One of the candidates, Mansoor Ahmed Al Maharab, quoted in a Bahrain-based website, asked the Kuwaiti prime minister to step down. Al Maharab referred him as "weak, ban from traveling and the one who will destroy Kuwait."

Al Maharab defended his attack by saying it wasn't personal but for the interest of the country, claiming the prime minister's performance was not efficient.

The challenges under the new system are vote buying, illegal tribal elections, and speculation about violence during the elections. But Al Maharab felt the five constituencies were the biggest challenge candidates have to face as voters were not aware of the new system. This is where the Kuwait Transparency Society and the Higher Transparency Commission may play a key role in monitoring the elections.

Four members of the Bahrain Transparency Society (BTS) have gone to Kuwait to join their counterparts in monitoring the ballot-casting process.

"We will ensure that there is no irregularity during the elections and observe the polls. The members have been trained on poll monitoring and join volunteers during the electoral process," BTS President Abdulnabi Al Ekry told AHN before leaving for Kuwait.

The society trained more than 60 monitors during the 2006 parliamentary and municipal elections in Bahrain. It then prepared a report which was criticized by several political associations. Al Ekry said they would be preparing a report with the Kuwaiti authorities which will be sent to Transparency International (TI).

Kuwaiti law does not recognize political parties, but several blocs have fielded candidates in the five districts. The blocs are Islamic Salafi Alliance, Islamic Constitutional Movement (Hadas), National Democratic Allias, The Popular Action Bloc and Ummah party.

Shiite candidates have formed their own parties: the National Islamic Alliance and the Justice and Peace Alliance.

Another, more powerful bloc, is formed by the Bedouin tribes, which account for more than half of Kuwait's native population of 1 million. This tribe had about half of the seats in the outgoing 50-member parliament.

Kuwait is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and is a close ally to the US.