Kuwait Elections Loom, Opposition Maintains Boycott

Photo Credit: Gustavo Ferrari/AP

Ahead of Kuwait’s legislative elections this Saturday, December 1, the Associated Press writes, “The message from Kuwait’s emir is blunt heading into this week’s parliamentary elections: Opposition factions should express dissent in the legislature, and not in the streets. The response from the opposition is equally uncompromising: We’re not satisfied with what we can accomplish through parliament, so we’re boycotting the vote.”

Hamad al-Jasser writes that opposition members anticipate a voter turnout of less than 30 percent and that 40 of 50 former MPs have announced their abstention from the election. He contends that this round of polls will be vastly different from “the traditional landscape of Kuwaiti elections, where crowded seminars and clamorous statements used to take place.”

Finally, Musallam Al-Barrak says, ”unless the government enhances the role of the national assembly and adheres to the constitution, political tensions will continue to escalate.” He adds, “People do not dispute the al-Sabah family’s right to the presidency, but the al-Sabah family is disputing the people’s right to manage the state and its wealth. In the end, the people of Kuwait will be triumphant.”