Kuwait: fractious parliament?

The United States is not the only country in the middle of seasonal primaries. In Kuwait, tribes are making arrangements to select candidates to represent them as the Gulf Arab state prepares for a parliamentary election on Saturday. The primaries are not unusual, but they are technically illegal -- and have led to further arrests and protests in an electoral campaign already marred by confusion.

The long history of difficulties between the government -- the Sabah ruling family -- and parliament has continued this year. Government ministers, led by Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah, submitted their resignations on March 17 to Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Ahmed al-Sabah, saying that they could not work with the current parliament. The prime minister then submitted his resignation to the emir -- also a member of the Sabah family -- who hurried back from abroad to announce the dissolution of parliament instead.

Kuwait has a Byzantine system of governance: the emir and prime minister appoint ministers, rather than parliament. Ministers sit in parliament but do not vote. Only one or two of the 15 ministers are normally drawn from elected MPs. There are no political parties, but several political blocs and a large number of independents, some of whom are close to the government and others to the blocs.

Relations between the government and parliament deteriorated after each election since the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, and the government has had a particularly fractious relationship with MPs since the June 2006 elections. Both government and parliament claim to want a better relationship but it is doubtful if the new elections will contribute to this.

As for election day itself, there are thought to be around 360,000-400,000 Kuwaitis eligible to vote and some Kuwaiti newspapers say that women may outnumber men. Women voted for the first time in 2006 but no women candidates then succeeded.  There are also accusations that the Sabah family has been trying to buy votes. Saturday may be very lively.