CIAO DATE: 09/2008
May 2008
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Tomorrow, Kuwait's nearly 400,000 voters -- more than half of them women -- will go to the polls to elect a new parliament. The incoming body will replace the 2006 parliament that was dissolved by the ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Sabah, for failing to work together with the cabinet. Kuwait's parliament is relatively powerful compared to others in the region, but tension with the royal family has often produced only deadlock. Still, the elections are an important and interesting exercise in Arab democracy and may even produce a more constructive political environment.
Resource link: PolicyWatch #1374: Kuwaiti Elections: Democracy in Action, or Inaction? [PDF] - 12K