Kuwaiti politics losing its pioneering advantage?

Kuwaiti politics is anything but dull. It has been for a long time the system that sets precedents and trends in the region. Kuwait has been a beacon and a harbinger for others to emulate. But the mechanism of Kuwaiti politics lately resembles a dysfunctional, lethargic machine, rather than a vibrant model that used to awe and inspire. The Emir had to step in again, for the fourth time in less than six years and suspend the feisty Kuwait parliament, which functions not with organised political parties but with with loose alliances. The political blocs have very little in common beyond opposing the policy of a government that is appointed by the prime minister, who is selected by the Emir as per the Kuwait’s constitution.

For outside observers, the charged Kuwaiti politics in the past few months seem to play out the Arab Spring fervour. They look like a Kuwaiti edition of the Arab Spring, the popular democratic movement which toppled regimes and is still ongoing. The results of the Kuwait parliamentary election, wherein Islamists won and led the opposition in huge numbers, accounting for half of the elected MPs, seem to validate the phenomenon that Kuwait has finally caught up with this movement.

But actually Kuwait has not. What is unfolding in Kuwait today is not related to the forces of the Arab Spring; it is more related to the “soft side of the Kuwait spring”.

Yes, it could be true that Kuwaitis took the cue from the Arab Spring, which has strengthened their demands and upped the ante, but the vibrancy and feistiness of Kuwaiti politics and its demands for reform and accountability preceded, and will continue after, the Arab Spring. The election outcome was based on purely domestic issues and demands, and was not reflective of the Arab Spring.

Moreover, all Kuwaitis agree with the fact that their system is legitimate. There is a unanimity regarding the allegiance to the political system, that manifested itself in more ways than one and, it is enshrined in the Kuwaiti constitution. Kuwaitis took to the streets when Saddam Hussain’s forces occupied and pillaged their country in 1990 demanding the return of their legitimate leadership from exile.

The suspension of Kuwaiti National Assembly last December by the Kuwaiti Emir, Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, did not solicit any public anger or challenge. To the contrary Kuwaitis were expecting it. The Emir has suspended the Kuwaiti parliament — one of the most outspoken in the Arab world — and has toppled cabinets and grilled ministers four times since 2006. Kuwaitis went to the polls yet again in a repeat ritual for the fourth time. During that time seven Kuwaiti cabinets led by Shaikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Sabah resigned over disputes and disagreements with the Parliament. This is unprecedented even in Byzantine Kuwaiti politics.

Kuwait political system has no political parties, but rather loose political blocs which lack discipline and organised mechanism. Therefore, Kuwaiti electioneering continues to be individualistic in its practice, catering to a small constituency according to western standards with the bread and butter issues always revolving around reforms, development, domestic issues and services and currying of favours.

I have to point out that the pains and rumbling politics of Kuwaiti democracy have been highlighted in many articles over the past years. While it is true that its colourful politics have set it apart from the drab colourless politics of many of Arab countries, yet Kuwaiti malaise is becoming alarmingly harmful and turning off not only Kuwaitis, but even outside admirers.

Although Kuwait has implemented a reverse of the adage of “no representation without taxation”, Kuwaitis are not satisfied with what they have and have demanded more reforms and more oversight. The tensions between the two branches of the political system came to a head last summer when it was revealed by a Kuwaiti newspaper that the government has diverted millions of Kuwaiti dinars from state funds to the accounts of 13 members of parliament in return for siding with the cabinet and voting with the government over crucial bills.

Kuwaiti representative politics sank to a new low, and the Islamists, populists and opposition members of parliament with youth movements like “Kafi” and the “fifth wall” took to the streets and rallied demanding the prime minister’s resignation. They also stormed the Parliament building last November. The Emir accepted the resignation of the prime minister and appointed former minister of defence Shaikh Jaber Al Hamad Al Sabah as prime minister, suspended the parliament and called for a snap election, which was held on Thursday.

Shift in power

Kuwait’s opposition came on top winning a majority. Liberals were hammered, and the four women MPs lost their coveted seats along with 19 other women candidates. Clearly the Kuwaiti voter by and large was bent on change. The opposition led by mainly Sunni Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafists and independent Islamists, along with some Shiite MPs, controls almost half of the new parliament. With the populist MPs, the opposition controls two-thirds of the parliamentary seats putting the government on the defensive and forcing the new cabinet that will emerge in the next two weeks to reflect the shift in power and accommodate the new realities on the ground.

After almost 50 years of representative politics, Kuwait, unfortunately, has not been able to come up with a successful political formula to safeguard its cherished experience. It is still a work in progress, like all emerging and developing democracies.

But time has come to embark on serious soul-searching by all the components of Kuwaiti society to find that formula. We are optimistic that will happen. In the meantime, we have to go through this stalemated politics without being discouraged or dismayed!

Professor Abdullah Al Shayji is the Chairman of the Political Science Department, Kuwait University. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/docshayji