Opposition Groups Make Gains in Kuwait Elections
Emir Al-Sabah of Kuwait in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Kuwait held parliamentary elections on November 26 after the emir dissolved the National Assembly in October. In a blow against the outgoing government, citizens elected 24 opposition members to the 50-seat Assembly and only reelected 20 incumbents. The high turnout against the incumbency was a reaction against the government raising the price of gasoline and threatening to implement austerity measures as the Kuwaiti economy falters.
After Kuwaiti officials announced a projected deficit of $31 billion, opposition candidates campaigned on anti-austerity platforms. Kuwaiti citizens worry the government plans to cut generous benefits such as free health care, education, housing, and subsidized consumer products in response to a failing economy after the drop in oil prices. In addition to promising to block austerity measures, opposition members campaigned against government corruption including bribery and targeting of dissidents.
The success of opposition candidates replaces a relatively homogenous legislature, since many opposition groups boycotted the 2012 elections after a pro-government law reduced the number of candidates a person could vote for from four to one. The opposition believed that this law reduced the power of coalition-building, an important substitute for the banned political party system. The boycotts also reduced voter turnout to below 50 percent; however, in the November elections, reports estimate 70 percent of citizens participated, motivated by the decision of opposition members to seek office.
The 2012 election reform reduces the influence of tribal affiliations on voting tendencies. Without political parties, opposition groups are organic and often cannot organize effectively to combat tribal power. However, with a “one person, one vote” system, more tribe-independent candidates have gained seats. However, the law does diminish the performance of some religious groups such as the Shi’a, who now only control six seats after losing three.
Islamist groups, such as the Islamic Constitutional Movement (a group linked to the Muslim Brotherhood) and the Salafists, a fundamentalist religious sect, constitute half of the new opposition members. The other half of the opposition bloc consists of nationalist and liberal individuals.
Despite only a slim majority of pro-government officials winning seats in the election, their numbers are bolstered by the Cabinet, a 15-member group of unelected ministers who are part of the unicameral legislature. The Cabinet is appointed by the Prime Minister, the head of the executive branch chosen by the hereditary emir. This prevents the opposition from being able to completely control the law-making process. However, since the National Assembly is among the strongest parliaments in the Middle East, its duties can be influenced by the significant level of opposition in other modes. For example, the Assembly can vote to remove a government official by a majority vote after an interrogation session, and the Cabinet ministers are barred from voting if the official is part of the Cabinet.
Many of the plans, especially fiscal reform, that the government had previously mentioned will most likely falter in the new Assembly. The former government had already cut fuel subsidies, raised fuel and electricity prices, and detailed a plan to privatize companies and add corporate tax policies addressing the instability of relying on the oil income that accounts for 95 percent of revenue. These reforms directly hurt the income of citizens, whose strong turnout ensured a new legislative arrangement that would challenge and defy austerity decisions. A sharply divided legislature is likely to create clashes between the MPs and the emir which could result in a quick dissolution of the Assembly again, a consequence with much precedent—the emir dissolved the National Assembly 5 times in the period between 2008 and 2013, citing tense political crises and “stalled achievements.”
Political confrontations have also resulted in the government revoking the citizenship of opposition activists and their families, following a law granting the power to remove citizenship from those endangering national security or unity. Media associated with opposition has also been banned in Kuwait, an additional tool in controlling dissent. If the new parliament and the executive branch refuse to cooperate, the government could resort to its former tactics and further prolong solutions to its economic emergency.