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"Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong; they are the ones to attain felicity".
(surah Al-Imran,ayat-104)
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User Name: abdulruff
Full Name: Dr.Abdul Ruff Colachal
User since: 15/Mar/2008
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Islamists Shine in Kuwait
 
Despite the anti-Islamic propaganda unleashed by the global media, Islamists, both Sunni and Shia, have won nearly half of the 50 seats in the Kuwait National Assembly elections for which were held on 17 May. Turnout was said to be modest in the morning heat and dust but had picked up by evening to end at an estimated 60% Economic concerns dominated the poll in the oil-rich Gulf emirate. While Islamist candidates won 24 seats, more than they won in the last election in 2006, liberal candidates and their allies won seven seats, one fewer than before, but the nationalist Popular Action Bloc led by the speaker, Ahmad al-Saadoun, lost one seat to end up with four. Clearly the popular Islamist group will now form the government in Kuwait.
 
Economic concerns dominated the poll in the oil-rich Gulf emirate. Rising food and commodity prices were at the top of the agenda for many Kuwaitis ahead of Saturday's vote. Kuwait may sit on 10% of the world's oil reserves - a commodity currently selling at record prices - but as a small desert state it is obliged to import most of its food. The oil price is denominated in a weak dollar but about a third of imports are paid for with the strong euro, affecting ordinary people on a daily basis. Election campaigning came to a halt this week with mourning for the former Emir, Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, who died recently. Last-minute campaign rallies had to be canceled but the government said it was determined not to postpone the election itself.
 
The elections in 2006 resulted in a loose alliance of reformists and Islamists securing nearly two-thirds of the seats in parliament. MPs have accused the ruling Sabah family of trying to lay all blame for the impasse on parliament and some have called for changes in the executive branch dominated by Sabah family members. The whole government resigned in March, saying they could no longer work with MPs who "interfered" with their work.
 
National Assembly, which was dissolved after a stand-off between the cabinet and MPs. MPs had been demanding a further pay rise for state employees - something the cabinet was against. Constant political clashes between the cabinet and parliament have delayed planned economic reforms. Kuwait's ruler Sheikh Sabah dissolved parliament on 16 March amid a political crisis that has prompted the entire cabinet to tender its resignation. Under Kuwaiti law, elections must be held within 60 days of dissolution of parliament. But in the past, parliament has been suspended for much longer - five years 1976-81, and for six years 1986-92. According to the constitution, nomination of a new crown prince or head of state (Emir) by the ruling family has to be confirmed by the National Assembly. 
 
Reform &
 
Kuwait: economy, politics and Interference
 
Kuwait is a small, oil-rich country nestling at the top of the Gulf, flanked by large or powerful neighbors - Saudi Arabia to the south, Iraq to the north and Iran to the east. Its oil fields were first exploited in the 1930s, and since the development of the petroleum industry after World War II and independence in 1961, oil has dominated the economy, making up around 90% of export revenues.
 
Kuwaitis are proud of their democratic record. They live in the first Gulf state to have had a parliament and it remains the national assembly with the sharpest teeth. Although the emir is able to dissolve parliament and the introduction of women standing and voting was relatively late in Gulf terms, MPs have more of a voice than their counterparts elsewhere in the region. The number of constituencies has been reduced from 25 smaller ones, which varied considerably in size and electoral roll, to just five large ones in order to reduce the possibilities of vote-buying and voting along tribal and sectarian lines. This time voters made up to four choices each from inevitably long lists of candidates, making the process at the voting booths more complicated and harder to predict.
 
Kuwait was the first Arab country in the Gulf to have an elected parliament. Moves to change the political structure culminated in the granting of full political rights to women in 2005.The appointment of a woman as a cabinet minister was a major breakthrough in Kuwaiti political system and it makes Kuwait the third country in Persian Gulf Arab monarchies to have a woman cabinet minister.
 
Western powers led by the USA are fully focused on regime change in Middle East and they keep raking up issues like democracy to bring the Arab world back to its hold after the deadly strains in their relations following Sept11 event and aftermath. The majority of Kuwait's 2.9-million population is made up of expatriates, who do not have a vote. Military personnel are also ineligible to cast ballots. Among the voters women in Kuwaiti parliamentary election made up 55% of the voters but over 10% of the candidates are women, a rare feature in world scene. However, a major worry of the Western media is that not even one candidate could win a seat, the second time this has happened since the emirate's electoral law was changed in 2005. The liberal candidate, Aseel al-Awadi, the only woman supported by a political group, narrowly missed out on being elected.
 
In 1991, the country was the scene of a massive US-led international military campaign to oust Iraqi forces, which had invaded the year before. Operation Desert Storm saw their eventual removal, but Kuwait's infrastructure was left in bad shape and had to be rebuilt. Oil exports stopped for a time. Twelve years later, Kuwait played host to another massive military presence as thousands of soldiers massed on the Iraqi border for the US-led campaign in 2003 to disarm, oust and kill the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. It remains an important transit route for forces and civilians moving in and out of Iraq
 
A Word
 
The efforts for government formation have already begun in the capital Kuwait City and it has to be seen if the new Islamist government would have smooth relations with the Emir of Kuwait. A new Islamist wave, whether the West and its allies in the East like it or not, has been sweeping the world over now. 
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Thank you
Yours Sincerely,
DR.ABDUL RUFF Colachal
Researcher in International Relations,
Analyst, Columnist & Commentator
South Asia
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