Shia Muslims have decided to go to the ballot before resorting to the bullet in Kuwait.

Kuwait has many Shia Muslims and now they will win seats in Kuwait Parliament.

Both JPA and NIA are Shiite Islamist political parties in Kuwait who are about to take seats in Cabinet.

Ya Ali Madaad!

KUWAIT TIMES:

Quote:

[b]Kuwait votes to end crises[/b]

May 17, 2008

By B Izzak, Staff writer

KUWAIT: Kuwaitis go to the polls today for the second time in less than two years to elect a new 50-seat National Assembly with the hope to put an end to a series of political crises that have hit the country in the past two years. A total of 275 candidates, including 27 women, are contesting the elections, the 12th since Kuwait adopted parliamentary democracy in 1962. The number is up from 249 candidates who contested the 2006 polls.

But the number of women candidates is exactly the same as the previous election when no woman won. Women are contesting and voting for only the second time after they were granted full political rights exactly three years ago. Thirty-eight MPs from the dissolved Assembly and as many as 14 from previous assemblies are in the race.

The total number of eligible voters is around 361,700 with women making 200,500 or slightly over 55 percent of the electorate, while male voters total 161,200. Female voters outnumber their male counterparts because servicemen in the army and the police force, mostly male, are banned from voting.

The ministry of justice has appointed about 800 judges and public prosecutors to supervisor the election, the counting and announcing the results. Voting will take place at 94 schools, 47 each for men and women, in line with the election law which requires total segregation between the two sexes in voting. In the schools, there are 94 main and 320 secondary polling booths set up in alphabetical order.

The election is being contested on the basis of a new system under which the electoral districts have been reduced from 25 in previous elections to just five, with each district electing 10 MPs. Each voter is allowed to cast up to four votes, which means electing a maximum of four MPs.

Voting begins at 8.00 in the morning and closes at 8.00 in the evening. But in some stations, voting can continue until later since under Kuwaiti law, those who are inside the voting station even after 8.00 pm will be allowed to vote regardless of the time. Counting in any district can only begin after all voters have cast their ballots. Counting in Kuwait is manual and is done at each polling station independently. When counting is completed, the result is immediately sent to the central station in each district.

This year, the justice ministry has established a central station in each of the five districts. These stations will announce the results when they are ready. Results are not expected before midnight with some even expecting it not to be announced until Sunday morning because of the new election system.

The daily Al-Rai said in an editorial yesterday that the election will "determine the political future of Kuwait" and voters will answer the question "what Kuwait do we need?" The heated campaign was cut short by the death of former Amir Sheikh Saad Abdullah Al-Sabah. Sheikh Saad, who ruled for only nine days before being deposed by parliament on health grounds in January 2006, died on Tuesday after a long illness. A three-day mourning period and public holiday was declared.

Mohammed Al-Moqatei, a law professor and columnist for the Al-Qabas daily, wrote yesterday urging Kuwaitis to vote in a way that would "take the country out of the bottleneck" of continued political crises. "Let's vote for wisdom, reason, and programs. Let's end the deterioration of our country," said Al-Moqatei. The National Assembly often threatens to grill Cabinet members. Grillings are usually followed by votes of no confidence, which are considered a challenge to the authority of the Al-Sabah family. The royal family tries to thwart them through Cabinet reshuffles and parliament dissolutions.

Kuwait, in 1962, was the first Gulf Arab nation to introduce a parliamentary system. In recent years it has witnessed calls for the legalisation of political parties, which remain banned although political groups act as de facto parties. There have also been calls for a commoner to head the government, which is traditionally led by a member of the ruling family.

Issues at campaign

The campaign this year was not as hectic as the previous election, when the Islamist, liberal and nationalist opposition was united in its call for election reform and the fight against corruption, political instability, lack of development programs and alleged infighting within the ruling family and its impact on political instability.

For the first time, the Interior Ministry cracked down on illegal tribal primary elections. Hundreds were referred to the public prosecution for investigations. The ministry also referred several people and two candidates to the public prosecution for alleged vote-buying. The 50-seat Assembly serves a four-year term unless it is dissolved. The Assembly has been dissolved five times since 1976, two of them suspensions. The Assembly was suspended for five years in 1976 and six years in 1986. The three other dissolutions were in 1999, 2006 and 2008, when fresh elections were called within the stipulated constitutional period of 60 days.

The number of voters considerably varies between districts. The second district has the lowest number of just under 42,000 voters, while the fifth district has the highest number with slightly above 101,000. About seven opposition groups and blocs are fielding candidates in most of the districts. The liberal National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is fielding eight candidates, including a woman, in the first, second and third districts. NDA had three MPs in the dissolved house.

The Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM), or Muslim Brotherhood, is fielding eight candidates in the first, second, third and fourth districts, and is backing several others. ICM had six MPs in the outgoing Assembly. The Islamic Salaf Alliance is fielding five candidates in the first, second, third and fourth districts. It had two MPs in the house. It is backing several others.

The National Islamic Alliance (NIA), a Shiite Islamist group, is fielding at least three candidates and backing others. They have entered into an alliance with former MP Hassan Jowhar and the Meethaq Group. It had three MPs in the dissolved house. The Justice and Peace Alliance, also a Shiite group, is fielding at least two candidates in the first district. They have formed an alliance with independent Shiite businessman Anwar Bukhamseen.

The Ummah Party, an Islamic conservative group, is fielding 11 candidates in all the five districts. They had only one MP in the outgoing house. The Popular Action Bloc, which had five MPs, is fielding five candidates in the third, fourth and fifth districts. At the same time, almost all tribes held tribal primaries, mainly in the fourth and fifth constituencies, which are entirely tribal. There are at least 35 candidates representing their respective tribes in the elections.

But, some leading candidates have decided to contest on their own after refusing to participate in the tribal primaries. These include former MPs Musallam Al-Barrak, Hussein Muzyed and Dhaifallah Buramia.

Main battles

The first district will witness a fierce contest between the two main Shiite lists, one of three candidates - former MP Saleh Ashour, Khlail Al-Saleh and Anwar Bukhamseen. The other has former MPs Adnan Abdulsamad, Ahmad Lari, Hassan Jowhar and new candidate Jaber Behbehani. There are several independent candidates like former MPs Hussein Al-Qallaf (Shiite), Hussein Al-Huraiti and Abdulmohsen Al-Mudej (liberal, former minister). The Awazem tribe also held its primary and elected four candidates. Prominent among women is Fatima Al-Abdali.

The second constituency is expected to see a straight contest between Islamists and liberals besides Shiites and tribes. The liberal NDA has four candidates - Mohammad Al-Abduljader and Abdulrahman Al-Anjari and former MPs Mohammad Al-Saqer and Ali Al-Rashed. ICM has former MPs Duaij Al-Shimmari and Jamaan Al-Harbash while Salafists have former MP Khaled Sultan Al-Issa and Abdullatif Al-Omairi. They are backing former MP Mohammad Al-Mutair. The district also includes outgoing speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi, former MPs Marzouk Al-Ghanem and Khalaf Al-Enezi. It also has Shiite candidates Abdulwahed Al-Khalfan and Imad Al-Mutawwa. Leading among women is Salwa Al-Jassar.

The third district is similar to the second. It has former speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun running. NDA has three candidates - former MP Faisal Al-Shaye and newcomers Khaled Al-Khaled and the only woman, Aseel Al-Awadhi. Salafists have one candidate, former MP Ali Al-Omair, while ICM has former MP Nasser Al-Sane and Abdulaziz Al-Shayeji. There are also leading Islamists Faisal Al-Muslim, Adel Al-Saraawi and Waleed Al-Tabtabae contesting. Women include Rula Dashti and Awadhi.

The fourth and fifth constituencies are almost entirely tribal. Each tribe elected its representatives who will face each other. For the first time, the success of all candidates from major tribes like Awazem, Ajman, Rashayda and Mutairi is not guaranteed as other smaller tribes are posing a real threat to these large tribes.

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