Friction frustrates Kuwaiti voters

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/8051501.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Aseel al-Awadhi is one of 19 female candidates in the Kuwaiti election By Christian Fraser BBC News, Kuwait

In a region where autocracy is the norm, democratic Kuwait is the exception - but its citizens are frustrated that the process is not running smoothly.

The apathy that has descended on the voters of this tiny oil-rich nation is especially striking because most Kuwaitis take real pride in their country's democratic traditions.

They have a powerful parliament that decides legislation and sets the emir's salary, they have a free judiciary, and this weekend 19 women will run for parliament.

It could be the first time a woman has been elected to the assembly.

But this is the second election in a year, and they have had five cabinets since 2006.

"We are worried people are not going to bother voting this time," said Dr Aseel Al-Awadhi, one of the front-running women candidates.

Nineteen women are running as candidates in the election

"They are sick of all this fighting in the assembly. We have seen a decline in the quality of political speech by parliamentary members.

"The calibre is not what it used to be. The way they deal with their conflicts - how they personally attack each other, is really disappointing."

The conflict stems from the rivalry between the government and the parliament.

The prime minister appoints the 15-member cabinet on behalf of the emir - many of them not elected.

Political parties are banned. Instead the tribal, religious and sectarian loyalties define the work of the 50-member elected parliament.

In recent years the opposition between elected MPs and the non-elected cabinet has been growing.

Former oil minister Ali Ahmad al-Baghli says it is time for constitutional reform.

"We need to move to a party political system," he said, "so that whichever party has the majority - or the coalition - can choose their own cabinet.

I don't think there is such a thing as too much democracy but among our 50 MPs, there are some that like to put the stick in the wheel Salah al-FulaijNational Bank of Kuwait <a class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/8048684.stm">Q&A: Kuwaiti elections</a> <a class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/8021056.stm">Kuwaiti elections: Voters' views</a>

"That way we can put an end to all this friction."

But that would remove any power the emir has to choose the cabinet - and some fear it might open the door to more conservative Islamists - not something the more privileged are keen to see.

For years the Kuwaitis have enjoyed all the trappings of their enormous oil wealth - they live tax free, houses are provided by the government, they're offered loans at extraordinarily low rates, and for all its faults they have a generous welfare state with free education and free healthcare.

But take a look around Kuwait city itself - and there are far fewer gleaming high-rise towers of the sort that populate neighbouring Abu Dhabi or Dubai.

Some think the problems within government are preventing the country from moving forward.

It's a question I put to the chief executive of the National Bank of Kuwait, Salah al-Fulaij.

"We could have done what Dubai did," he said.

The emir of Kuwait has a role in appointing the cabinet

"But it's not as easy as it is when you have a quick one-man decision-maker.

"In Dubai they have an emir that makes the decisions, whereas here the decision-makers have their hands tied.

"Do we want democracy? Yes. Do we like the constitution? Absolutely.

"I don't think there is such a thing as too much democracy but among our 50 MPs, there are some that like to put the stick in the wheel."

Broadly speaking, the enormous civil sector is filled by Bedouin Arabs who have tribal loyalties with the Islamist politicians in parliament.

Whereas the government and the private sector are run by men like Mr Fulaij, the wealthy elite - the merchants - who are more closely aligned with the royal family.

It is not a divided society - far from it - the parliament is a mixture of liberals, nationalists, Sunnis and Shias. But there are tensions.

Alarm at Islamists

The supporters of the government tend to be more liberal in their outlook and they are worried the Islamists have taken a stranglehold of their political system.

It was the Islamists' rumbustious attempts to cross-examine the prime minister - known as grilling - that brought down the last government.

This week the liberals were out on the streets in support of women candidates.

"It has to stop," said Nuriya, a young woman voicing her support.

We had to sit in the last parliament with two unelected women ministers who refuse to wear the Hijab. What can we do? Khalid SultanIslamist Salaafi Movement candidate

"The Islamists have gone too far. They have started pushing for the segregation of children at school. Now they are targeting women.

"They were the majority in the last parliament and look what happened. Everyone knows what their agenda is."

The Islamists reject the accusation they are to blame.

Khalid Sultan, a successful property magnate in Kuwait, is running as a candidate for the Islamist Salaafi Movement.

"The government has to be led by a prime minister that can act," he said.

"People have to see some achievement from the government instead of all this stagnation in almost every field - major projects are at a standstill, nothing has been achieved with education, health, job opportunities, housing you name it.

"Look at the economy. We have something close to 350,000 young graduates coming to the labour market.

"And the government can only absorb about a third of them - if they are generous. It is an explosive issue. We need aggressive development of the private sector."

Mr Sultan holds strong views on the participation of women MPs even though his wife is not Muslim nor Kuwaiti - she is American.

"We are following Sharia law and our fatwa says it is not allowed," he said.

"We had to sit in the last parliament with two unelected women ministers who refuse to wear the Hijab. What can we do? This is what we have to deal with."

Dr Aseel, who herself has faced a poisonous smear campaign in recent weeks, says if she is elected she will refuse to wear the Hijab.

"Our law says I can wear what I want," she said.

And she feels confident the majority of Kuwaitis are happy to see women participating - however they choose to dress.

"There is more acceptance of women's role in politics either as activists or candidates or ministers.

"This is the second time I have run for the assembly and I can tell you there has been a tremendous amount of change among both male and female voters."

The candidates in this election describe the battle for the assembly as a defining moment for their country.

Yet in spite of all the turmoil, the people attending rallies this week are rightly proud of the freedoms they enjoy.

Kuwaitis are desperate for a solution to the country's political stalemate, but few would countenance the prospect of an end to more than 40 years of peaceful democracy which is surely the envy of the Arab world.