Politics of Kuwait
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[edit] Parliamentary Grilling
Kuwait Politics is best described as one where MPs abuse their power of grilling, and constantly threaten the Government ministers to grill them. Statements like this "I will call you on the podium in Parliament and I will grill you!" are very common on MPs lips, especially when the MP gets angry at the government minister. Many times, even the Prime Minister gets threats to be grilled, which usually leads to the resignation of the entire cabinet (as it had happened very recently - just at the end of 2008), or the dissolution of Parliament itself. In both cases, it is the Amir (i.e. the "ruler" of Kuwait) who has to make the decision and see what's the best course of action to take. Usually, however, in order to defuse all this animosity between the two branches of government, the Amir chooses the first route and accepts the government's resignation. The threats to grill the government minister especially intensify before the parliamentary election, as the MP, who wants to get reelected, does everything within his power to appear tough in front of the voters of the constituency in which he is seeking reelection.
[edit] Human Rights in Kuwait
Out of the six GCC states, human rights record in Kuwait is, arguably, the best. The country has no political prisoners; as for prisoners of conscience, Prof Ahmed Al-Bagdadee is believed to have been the last one following his conviction in 1999 for blaspheming Islam (the professor chaired the political science department at Kuwait University, and was sentenced on October 4, 1999 under Kuwait's Press and Publications Law to one month in prison. The conviction was based on an article he had written in 1996 for the university's student magazine, Al-Shoula. He was eventually pardoned by the Emir of Kuwait and released from prison). Among organisations, which are primarily concerned with human rights, Kuwait Society for Human Rights can be named as one of them; also, there is a permanent Human Rights' Committee in the Kuwaiti parliament itself. As for the human rights abuses, there have been numerous allegations that the police and other Kuwait's law enforcement agencies torture suspects to extract evidence. One of the pronounced human rights problems in Kuwait is that of the stateless people residing in Kuwait (over 150 thousand of them). Those stateless people (which are called bidoon in Kuwait)are denied basic civil and political rights - they cannot participate in local or national elections, they cannot marry, etc. etc. In spite of the fact that many of them have spent their entire life in Kuwait, they are still being refused Kuwaiti citizneship.
[edit] The ruling family
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Kuwait's monarchical system of government is marked by the unusually wide involvement of members of the ruling family in state posts. Several important cabinet porfolios are held by members of the ruling family, including defense, interior and foreign affairs. Members of the ruling family (who bear the title 'shaykh' in Kuwait) typically hold additional cabinet posts, and are found in many other high posts in the government. This major family role in politics emerged in 1939, when shaykhs of the al-Sabah closed the Kuwaiti parliament that the merchants had established the year before.
Kuwait's Emir (whose official title is His Highness the Emir of the State of Kuwait ) is a respected figure among Kuwaiti nationals. For instance, in the year 2004—after unexpected hike in oil prices brought extra revenues to Kuwait's budget—many Kuwaiti employees, working in the governmental sector, demanded from the government an increase in salaries. The Government, however, rejected their demands arguing that the hike in oil prices was only temporary. However, the Emir stepped in and came up with a middle solution, decreeing that every Kuwaiti citizen shall be granted a one-time allowance of 200 Kuwaiti dinars. The parliament unanimously approved the Emir's initiative by passing a special bill on that matter.
From 1962 to 2003, the crown prince also headed the government as prime minister. This changed in 2003, when Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah became Prime Minister while Sa'd al-Abdallah, who had been the Prime Minister, resigned that post but stayed on as Crown Prince. The crown prince has few other constitutional duties other than serving as heir to the throne. However, that does not prevent him from being a public figure - the mass media always provides reports about him, usually of social or diplomatic nature: for instance, if he receives a foreign dignitary is his office, or sends a cable of congratulations to another monarch or travels or returns from abroad, or hosts a social event - these and other things will always be covered by Kuwait's media.
[edit] External links
- Kuwait Politics Database
- Al-Baghdadi Case
- Kuwaiti Women's First Election Day
- Article on Politics of Kuwait by the International Museum of Women.
- Kuwait Government at the Open Directory Project
- Kuwait People http://clubco.dyndns.org/kpims
