Women join Kuwait politics
KUWAIT CITY -- Kuwaitis voted Saturday for a parliament that could include women for the first time and which many hope will end two years of political wrangling that has created widespread disgust with politics.
New electoral rules to reduce corruption and vote-buying and greater political opportunities for women could result in a markedly different legislature for this tiny, oil-rich Gulf nation and U.S. ally.
Voters said that recent political squabbling has diverted too much attention away from using booming oil revenues for economic development.
There is a widespread hope that the new parliament will be more representative and better able to cooperate with the government. For the past two years, lawmakers and the government have been unable to work together, prompting Kuwait's emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, to dissolve the body twice since 2006. He did so most recently in March, prompting this election.
A big change in Kuwait's politics revolves around the role of women, who only got the right to run for office in 2005. While none were elected in the last contest, in 2006, many have high hopes this time for the 27 women vying for office together with 248 men. Women account for 55 percent of voters.
Results were expected Sunday.
"I'm very optimistic," said Aseel al-Awadi, the only female candidate who has the support of a political group, the westernized liberal National Democratic Alliance. "In 2006, there was no confidence in women. But with time, they started getting into the game."
Women candidates, however, still face an uphill battle in gaining the trust of most voters in this nation where parliamentarians are usually elected along tribal and family lines.
The election comes after the country's emir dissolved parliament in March. He made the move in the wake of an increasingly acrimonious relationship between the Cabinet, appointed by the royal family, and the 50-seat legislative body.
Although candidates have heaped criticism on what they called the "weak" Cabinet, most Kuwaitis blame lawmakers more for the political gridlock.
"Only a few of the previous parliament members should come back," said Abdullah al-Zaid, a 42-year-old customs officer, as he waited in a long line to vote at a men's polling station. He said the squabbling has taken up too much time, diverting efforts to develop the country with the revenues pouring in from oil.
"The barrel is more than 100 dollars and we don't see any improvement in services and infrastructure," he lamented.
For decades of oil plenty, Kuwaitis have enjoyed a generous cradle-to-grave welfare system including free education and health care. However, the standard of these services has not kept up with the private sector's and many prefer to go to private clinics or send their children to expensive foreign schools.
Parliament has mounted a number of challenges against Cabinet ministers, grilling them and threatening to impeach them over a range of issues from corruption to endangering religious values. The animosity paralyzed politics and halted plans to privatize the single-source economy.
What may make this new parliament different is the reduction of electoral districts from 25 to just five to defeat attempts at vote-buying. Reformists believe larger districts will make it harder for candidates to buy their victory because they will need much more money.
Saturday's elections are the first in Kuwait under the new rules, which were pushed through after widespread protests in the country. Each of the five districts sends 10 representatives to parliament, and each person can vote for four candidates in a district.