October 1992, Page 36, 85

Special Report

Kuwait Begins Its Return to Democracy

By Andrea W. Lorenz

With the official announcement by the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jabir Al-Sabah, that national elections would be held on October 5, Kuwaitis plunged into what promise to be the most exciting elections in their history. Despite evident misgivings, the ruling family kept the pledge it made in October 1990 from its capital-in-exile in Taif, Saudi Arabia, to restore their country's parliament after Kuwait's liberation.

Kuwaitis will elect 50 deputies to their National Assembly, two for each of the country's 25 electoral districts. All natural-born, literate, male Kuwaiti citizens above the age of 21 whose ancestral links with Kuwait predate 1920 may vote. By mid-summer, from a population of 1.4 million, 81,938 men had registered.

Seven opposition groups have been actively working to win voters' confidence.

The experience of participating in democratic elections is not new to Kuwaitis. Their Constitution, promulgated in November 1962, calls for a system of government which "shall be democratic, under which sovereignty resides in the people, the source of all powers."

From 1963 to 1985, six National Assembly elections were held. As the Iran-Iraq war moved closer to Kuwait's borders, however, the 1985 assembly's shrill criticism of the government (as Kuwaitis refer to the ruling family), particularly its charges that is mishandled events leading up to the Souk al-Manakh stock exchange collapse, alarmed and angered the emir.

On July 3, 1986, he dissolved the assembly and suspended several articles of the Constitution, including those requiring new elections to be held within two months. Convinced that, as Iran's armies approached its borders, the Iranian government was seeking to subvert Kuwait's Shi'i Arab community, the emir also muzzled, on security grounds, the Kuwaiti press, previously one of the most free, accurate, and spirited in the region.

Kuwait today is a very different country from the Kuwait its citizens knew before Aug. 2, 1990. Still dwarfed by aggressive Iranian and Iraqi neighbors, it was left in shambles by the retreating Iraqis. The psychological effects of the war are indelibly imprinted on the soul of every Kuwaiti.

The country's resident population has been reduced to barely half of its pre-war figure. Among the expatriates who fled our were deported were most of the Palestinians, who did much of the technical and administrative work.

Nineteen months after Kuwait's liberation, an estimated 500,000 firearms still are hidden in Kuwaiti households, a factor that may have made the royal family think twice about either canceling or further postponing elections.

For the past 18 months, candidates have been preparing themselves and their supporters for the crucial final four weeks before the day of voting. Nearly 800 men have announced their candidacy.

Seven opposition groups-parties are officially banned-have been actively working to win voters' confidence. They are: the Democratic Forum (Al-Manbar Al-Dimocrati), the Islamic Constitutional Movement (Al-Haraka Al-Islamiyyeh Al-Dustoriyyeh), the Populist Islamic Group (Al-Tajama'a Al-Islami Al-Sha'bi), the National Islamic Coalition (Al-I'tilaf Al-Islami Al-Watan), the Constitutional Group (Al-Tajama'a Al-Distori), the Independents (Al-Mustaqiloun), and the Parliamentarian Group (Takato'al Al-Niwa'ab). In addition to these seven groups, there are two religious extremist factions.

Bedouin tribal-based candidates also are influential. Traditionally, the tribesmen have eschewed affiliation with any political groups. They are a powerful bloc, however, and in both the 1981 and 1985 assemblies Bedouin representatives controlled 27 seats, or 56 percent of the membership.

Campaigning in Kuwait becomes a gala event. Candidates are not allowed to use radio or television, but they may distribute leaflets, buy space in the newspapers, and spend lavish amounts entertaining. Each candidate erects a traditional reception tent in his neighborhood, and in the evenings holds an open-house, where men may drop in for coffee, tea and sweets, and participate in often lively discussions.

Kuwaiti women are following the elections with intense interest. It is not uncommon to see groups of them sitting in their cars outside the candidates' tents listening to the debates on public address systems or civilian band radio. Although women cannot yet vote or run for office, many are actively involved as campaign managers. In some cases, they are working for candidates who have promised, if they win, to support a constitutional amendment allowing women to vote and run for office.

Paradoxically, many women did not want the emir to enfranchise them by decree, even though it would have meant they could vote in these elections. Such a decree, easily promulgated, can just as easily be repealed. Most of those who support enfranchisement of women prefer that it be accomplished through a constitutional amendment.

The real challenges for the Kuwaiti government lie in the year following the elections. Fawzi Al-Sultan, a Kuwaiti executive director of the World Bank, told the Washington Report that the government has limited access to vital information to a small family circle, making it difficult for candidates to develop effective platforms. He recommends what he terms "transparency of information."

Four Critical Issues

Mr. Al-Sultan believes the new parliament must grapple with four intimately-related issues. One is the extent to which the country should depend on foreign labor. Kuwaitis have sought to reduce the expatriate population for years. Now that the war has depleted it, Kuwaitis must decide how many jobs to set aside for themselves and how many foreign workers to invite back.

The second critical issue is the post-war role of the government. "Kuwait is basically a welfare state," said Mr. Al-Sultan. The Al-Sabahs own all of the country's important assets. Through a kind of noblesse oblige, they provide Kuwaitis with all of their needs. Education and medical care are free. The price of almost every commodity is subsidized.

Nine out of ten Kuwaitis are employed by the government. And despite the fact that Kuwait's pot of gold has shrunk, the ruling family recently back-paid all salaries for the invasion period, wrote off billions of dollars in mortgage and consumer loans, increased by nearly 50 percent grants and loans to Kuwaiti males who marry Kuwaiti women, upped monthly child allowances from $100 to $175 a month, increased assistance to Kuwaiti widows, orphans, and the poor by 50 percent, and raised by 25 percent the salaries of all Kuwaitis employed in the public sector.

The omnipresence of the government and the lack of incentives has left the private sector moribund. Significant unemployment exists. Mr. Al-Sultan said that when the World Bank advertised in Kuwait for two openings, it received over 450 applications. Inevitably, talented young Kuwaitis are frustrated by the dearth of opportunities for meaningful employment.

Linked inextricably with the role of the government is the question of how to revitalize the economy. Mr. Al-Sultan believes a new system of incentives must be established to spur investment. Kuwaitis already produce excellent Arabic computer software and games. Given the right incentives, he feels Kuwaitis could become competitive in a number of other areas. Why not privatize the hospitals, he suggested. If better regional medical care were available, wealthy Arabs would be less likely to seek it in Europe or America.

Further, Kuwait's government must avoid the temptation to bail out businesses on the brink of failure, as it has done in the past. For example, before the invasion the government decided to privatize the country's gas stations, which were manned by about 500 highly-paid government employees. The government wanted to save money by selling the stations to entrepreneurs who could employ high school graduates at half the salaries of the government-employed attendants. After the plan was announced, however, gas station employees unionized and refused to cooperate. A better alternative, said Mr. Al-Sultan, would have been to give the attendants the option of buying the gas stations themselves.

Most Kuwaitis agree that a revamped education system is the key to making such reforms a success. If the National Assembly decides to limit the expatriate population, then an aggressive new education policy must be instituted, giving priority to skills where the need is greatest.

The results of the October 5 elections will determine the course of the new Kuwaiti National Assembly. The Arab world and the people of the other nations that participated in Kuwait's rescue will be following them with interest and wishing the Kuwaitis well.

Andrea W. Lorenz is the features editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

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