The victory of anti-government candidates in the Kuwaiti parliament has left the monarchy with more to worry about, Sherine Bahaa reports In the tiny oil-rich emirate of Kuwait, the 11th parliamentary elections were recently held. Like the preceding 10, these elections were brought about by an emiri decree dissolving the existing parliament. On this occasion, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah issued his decree on 21 May leaving Kuwaiti MPs only five weeks to make up their minds whether to run, prepare their electoral programmes and conduct their campaigns. In the past, emirs used their constitutional powers to dissolve parliaments, but this time the dissolution of the parliament was viewed by the emir as the only way out of the dispute over an electoral reform bill calling for a cut in the number of electoral constituencies to five from the current 25. However, the results were "surprisingly unfavourable to the government," said Shamlan Al-Eissa, from the Kuwaiti Centre for Political Studies. The opposition's winning of two-thirds of the 50-seat parliament has given more strength to reformers in their demands to modify the electoral bill and has put the emir in a tight spot that may lead him finally to yield and reduce the voting districts to five. Ironically, the dissolution of parliament left a new majlis (House of Representatives) with more opposition MPs than the previous one. Analysts provided different figures regarding the relative strength of the different opposition blocs. The Islamic grouping -- representing the rival Wahabi and Salafist groups of conservative Islam -- won 17-18 seats up from 15, with liberals continuing their slide from the 2003 elections, dropping from eight to six parliamentarians. Nine new representatives were elected on pro-reform tickets after running a campaign focussed on government corruption and electoral district re-zoning. Al-Eissa believes that the emir should be very cautious while naming the new government. The Kuwaiti cabinet presented its resignation last Saturday as usual after parliamentary election results were announced. The Kuwaiti emir re-appointed Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohamed Al-Sabah as prime minister one day later. Nasser, a nephew of the emir, would have been grilled by the outgoing parliament, were it not for the emir's decree of dissolving parliament. For his part, Nasser needs to form a new government that is free from key ministers, whom the opposition has accused of corruption and inefficiency. Outspoken opposition MP Mussallam Al-Barrak said the next cabinet must include "clean" ministers. "If the emir wants to avoid plunging the country into another political crisis between the establishment and reformers, who are gaining more grassroots support, he needs to name a new government with clear instructions to agree on the suggested bill," argued Al-Eissa. According to pro-reform MPs, reducing the number of constituencies would make fraud and vote-buying almost impossible. In fact, issues of reform and combating corruption have united forces from the far left to the far right under the umbrella of opposition, ranging from Islamists seeking an Islamic state and opposing women's suffrage, to secular liberals calling for a more Westernised Kuwait. Some 43 newly elected MPs held an informal meeting last Sunday to discuss the important issues in the next parliamentary term. Emboldened by their landslide victory, some of the MPs went as far as calling for turning Kuwait into a single constituency. In the meantime, dozens of young activists staged a sit-in outside the house where the meeting was held. They carried banners reading "MPs, we elected you, do not let us down". Youth is one of the pivotal factors in bringing about this shift in the Kuwaiti elections. Mostly US educated, Kuwaiti youngsters have succeeded in orchestrating one of the most historic demonstrations in peaceful Kuwait, running electoral campaigns, monitoring the voting process and escorting women (newcomers to the election process) to ballot boxes. Yet it was not only the number of seats won by the different blocs that was surprising: the absence of women in the new parliament was a severe blow to their tremendous efforts in the short timeframe preceding the elections. It was their first ever appearance in the electoral process but none of the 28 standing women candidates made it to the House. Surprisingly, it was announced that women voted for men more than they voted for their own gender. However, Al-Eissa refused to attribute the failure of the women candidates to weaknesses in their electoral campaigns. "They were more educated and high-profiled than their male counterparts," said Al-Eissa: yet they failed. "Women even voted for the Islamists, who voted against women's political rights, rather than the liberals, who have been defending them for the past 10 years," added Al-Eissa. "Kuwaiti women are like other Arab women: they are conservatives, and that explains why they failed. Unless they adopt a more progressive approach towards domestic issues, success will remain distant for them," said Al-Eissa. Al-Eissa believes that political Islam, in almost all Arab countries, has succeeded in politicising women's issues and keeping women subservient to men. Analysing their performance in campaigning, Al-Eissa concluded that women appeared "well-meaning but unsophisticated. They failed to form alliances with any of the present political blocs that could support them". Although deeply hurt, Kuwaiti women sounded vindicated by the results of the elections. "It was a loss, lined with success," said Fatima Al-Abadli, one of the women who ran for parliament. Al-Abadli, who polled fifth in a field of 14 candidates, reiterated that she will not lose hope and is planning to stand in the next elections, due in 2010 unless another decree is issued.
