Kuwaitis go to civic polls

Some 130,960 eligible Kuwaiti males are expected to participate in the country's ninth Municipal Council elections today.

Fifty-four candidates are in the fray for 10 seats on the municipal council.

These elections are the first after Parliament granted Kuwaiti women the right to vote and stand for a seat on May 16.

But women will not take part in these elections because they were called before they secured their political rights.

Although the powers of the Municipal Council are purely technical and organisational, its seats are normally contested on political platforms and involves tribal, sectarian and religious factors.

There is only one municipality in Kuwait but with many service branches in several areas.

It is entrusted with a wide variety of responsibilities including city planning, monitoring construction, slaughterhouses and restaurants.

Kuwait Municipality was founded on April 13, 1930 during the reign of Shaikh Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, the tenth ruler of Kuwait.

It was established after prominent Kuwaiti personality Shaikh Yousuf Bin Eisa Al Qinai visited Bahrain and saw for himself the way the 1919-founded Bahrain Municipality operated.

According to the Law Number 15 for the year 1972, the Municipal Council comprises 10 elected members and six others appointed by the Emir.

The government is expected to appoint, for the first time, one or more female members in the Council following their enfranchisement.

Once elected, council members elect a chairman and deputy chairman for the duration of four years, during which regular meetings are held every two weeks.

Annually, the council discusses its budget and closing audit accounts for the previous fiscal year, looking into municipal-related suggestions from the government or the National Assembly.

The writer is a journalist based in Kuwait.