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Kuwait City: The vote was meant to resolve a two-year political standoff between parliamentarians and the country's cabinet ministers.
But after hardline Islamists and tribal leaders scored major victories in Saturday's parliamentary poll, many say the bickering will only continue, keeping this nation from catching up to its booming neighbours.
The speedy economic development in Dubai and Qatar, where democracy doesn't get in the way of business, loomed large in the election here. Many Kuwaitis blame both the government and the parliament for the lack of progress even though the country had $32.7 billion (about Dh119 billion) surplus for the 2007-08 fiscal year.
"Kuwaitis are very disappointed at being left behind in terms of advancement [compared] to their [Gulf] neighbours, especially since Kuwait led the region up until the '80s," says Sulaiman Al Atiqi, a management student at the American University of Kuwait.
"Kuwait has now definitely acknowledged the competition ... and seems very eager for a comeback. A comeback however will only be under way should the government privatise further government-controlled fields and find a way to make business easier to conduct from a bureaucratic level," he says.
Islamist and tribal MPs have traditionally rejected government proposals for economic reform, preferring instead to perpetuate a cradle-to-grave welfare system. For example, in the last parliament, tribal and Islamist MPs supported a proposal to forgive Kuwaiti citizens personal debt estimated at more than 4.6 billion dinars (about $17 billion or about Dh62 billion). The government balked at the plan but later agreed to set up a fund to help debt-ridden Kuwaitis, many of whom face jail terms when they default on loans.
Kuwait has a long history of democratic engagement. Its first parliament sat in 1963 and Kuwaitis strongly back rule of law and the Constitution. Even so the parliament has been dissolved five times, three times by the previous emir - in 1976 for five years, in 1986 for six years and again in 1999.
Since the June 2006 elections, four cabinets have resigned, several ministers have been reshuffled or have resigned in order to avoid questioning by parliament or face a vote of no confidence.
In Saturday's vote, tribal MPs took 23 seats in the assembly, hardline Islamists won 11 seats, liberals took 11 seats, and Shiite candidates won five seats.
"In order for faster econ-omic reforms to take place the notion of waiting for the parliament to take place is a joke," opines a young Kuwaiti, Osama Al Sadi.
Privatisation and economic reform, however, are controversial issues in Kuwait. Parliamentary intransigence has stalled legislation on critical development projects like the $20 Project Kuwait, intended to expand Kuwait's oil exports.
Fifteen-year old plans for the sell-off of state-owned industries have languished in parliament, with opposition coming mostly from tribal and Islamist MPs, who derive their main support from citizens who work in the public sector.
"Kuwait's medium-term outlook is highly favourable, driven by strong growth in the non-oil economy due to high oil prices and infrastructure spending. It is important that structural reforms to support private investment continue," says a spokesperson in the Middle East and Central Asia Department of the International Monetary Fund.
But already rumours and speculation are circulating that this parliament won't last two years. The emir has the power to dissolve it at any time.
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