Kuwait votes for parliament amid virus and economic challenges

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait began voting for its National Assembly on Saturday, the first election since the death of its long ruling emir as the oil-rich nation struggles with serious economic problems during the coronavirus pandemic.

The hundreds of thousands of voters in this small country will select legislators for 50 seats in parliament, the freest and most bustling of all the Arab Gulf countries. However, Kuwait’s parliament has cracked down on opposition to its ruling Al Sabah family since the 2011 Arab Spring protests that saw protesters storming the chamber.

Parliaments typically don’t serve their full terms in America’s staunch ally, but America did.

Kuwaitis are voting in 102 schools across the nation the size of the US state of New Jersey. Authorities said masks and social distancing will be required due to the pandemic. Several schools will accept those with active cases of the virus, with the sick first receiving government permission to vote.

The polls will be open from 8 am to 8 pm

The vote comes after the death in September of Kuwait’s ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, 91. Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, 83, quickly seized power unopposed. The outgoing parliament later approved Sheikh Nawaf’s choice for Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber, the 80-year-old deputy chief of the Kuwait National Guard.

The new parliament will have to make decisions on a number of issues, perhaps none more important than Kuwait’s economy.

This fall, rating agency Moody’s downgraded Kuwait for the first time in its history. The finance minister has warned that the government will soon be unable to pay salaries. Kuwait’s national bank said the country’s deficit could reach 40% of its gross domestic product this year, the highest level since the financial devastation of the 1990 Iraqi invasion and the subsequent Gulf War.

With crude prices just above $ 45 a barrel, other nearby Arab states went into debt, cut subsidies or introduced taxes to support their spending. Kuwait, however, did none of that.

That is not to say that Kuwait is asking for help at international summits anytime soon. The Kuwait Investment Authority has assets of $ 533 billion, according to the Las Vegas-based Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, making it the fourth-largest fund of its kind in the world.

The problem is that Kuwait does not have a legal framework to spend in deficit beyond its current limit of $ 33 billion. It needs the country’s parliament to approve it. But lawmakers will likely face a popular backlash as the public fears money will be lost to corruption amid a series of high-profile cases rocking the country.

Kuwait has the sixth largest oil reserves in the world. The country is also home to some 13,500 US troops, many at Camp Arifjan, south of Kuwait City, which is also home to the forward command of the US Army Headquarters.