KUWAIT, 5 July 2003 — Kuwait will hold general elections today free from former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s looming menace for the first time in over a decade.
Dozens of candidates were holding final rallies yesterday on the eve of voting, making promises of political reform and warning voters against casting ballots based on tribal and family allegiances.
Many of the candidates see Saddam’s removal from power as their first chance in 12 years to call on Kuwait’s ruling Al-Sabah family to institute political reforms and share power with Parliament.
Some 250 candidates are running for 50 seats in the Gulf state’s all-male assembly after months of a campaign which pitted pro-Western liberals against powerful Islamists. Kuwait excludes women and recently naturalized Kuwaitis from voting. That means only 15 percent of the country’s 850,000 citizens are eligible to vote.
The liberals, mainly intellectuals and big merchant families, seek Western-style governance, while Islamists want a return to religious roots. The campaign has been tainted by allegations of corruption and attempts by some candidates to buy votes.
Many Kuwaitis, both Islamists and liberals, see Saddam’s ousting after 24 years, and the US call for change in the region as an opportunity to push for greater democracy.
Analysts said they do not expect the election to shake up the political scene, dominated by the ruling family. But they hoped the new Parliament would be given enough leeway to implement economic reforms and curb political mismanagement.
“Parliament has only 30 percent of the power. Nothing will change with a few deputies replaced,” said leading economist Jassem Al-Saadoun. “We are in a new era, with all the changes taking place in the region what we need is real reforms.”
A key demand is for the ruling family, in power long before Kuwait gained independence in 1961, to loosen its grip on government and allow Kuwaitis to elect a prime minister, a post traditionally held by the crown prince.
