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Kuwaitis attend an election campaign meeting
KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait will hold parliamentary elections on Saturday in the shadow of Covid-19, with facilities for citizens infected with the disease to vote at special polling stations.
The oil-rich country has enforced some of the strictest regulations in the Gulf to combat the spread of the coronavirus, imposing a months-long national lockdown earlier this year.
But while some restrictions have been eased, the over-the-top election events that traditionally draw thousands of people for lavish banquets are gone, masks remain mandatory, and temperature checks are routine when venturing outdoors.
Infected people or those in mandatory quarantine are often confined to home, with electronic bracelets that monitor their movements.
But in an effort to include all voters, authorities have designated five schools, one in each constituency, where they can vote, out of 102 polling stations across the country.
Election officials are expected to wear full personal protective equipment.
– Campaign smoothed –
Unlike other oil-rich Gulf states, Kuwait has a lively political life with a four-year-elected parliament enjoying broad legislative powers.
Political disputes are often fought openly.
The parties are not prohibited or recognized, but many groups, including Islamists, operate freely as de facto parties.
But with more than 143,917 coronavirus cases to date, including 886 deaths, the election campaign has toned down this year.
The polls, which open at 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT), will be the first since the new emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, took office in September following the death of his half-brother, from 91 years. the old Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
But with the opposition weakened in recent years, no major political changes are expected.
Some election banners strewn across the streets have been the only reminder of the nation’s political calendar.
Instead, this year’s campaign has been fought primarily on social media and in the media.
– ‘More dynamic’ –
More than 567,000 Kuwaiti voters will be able to choose from among the 326 candidates running for the vote, including 29 women.
Ahmad Deyain, general secretary of the opposition group Kuwait’s Progressive Movement, said he expected lower voter turnout than in previous years after the campaign stunted.
Yet the usual themes are a constant, from pledges to fight corruption and plans to tackle youth employment, to freedom of expression, housing, education and the thorny issue of the “bidoon,” the stateless minority. from Kuwait.
From 2009 to 2013, and especially after the 2011 Arab Spring riots, the country went through a period of political turmoil, with parliament and cabinets dissolved several times after disputes between lawmakers and the government led by the ruling family.
“Kuwait has been going through a political crisis since 2011, and that page has not yet turned,” Deyain told AFP.
“There are still disputes about the electoral system and the mismanagement of state funds.
Deyain said he hoped some MPs in the new National Assembly would be “more dynamic” in trying to solve some problems.
Kuwait was the first Persian Gulf state to adopt a parliamentary system in 1962, and in 2005 women won the right to vote and stand in elections.
