Last month’s dissolution of Kuwait’s National Assembly was the result of frustrations that have been building for many years. Disagreement between the government and the Assembly over further increases in wages for public employees may have been the trigger, but the root cause is the fact that the assembly lacks the power that the people expect. The solution to this problem is to change the power relationship between the assembly and the government.
Kuwait constitution has since its inception been regarded as a good balance of participatory democracy and the monarchical rule, a balance that does not exists in the other Gulf States. This system consisted of a National Assembly elected by the people and a cabinet appointed by the Prime Minister whom is appointed by the Emir. There is some interaction among the powers of the two, for example, the Assembly has the right to question cabinet members and hold no-confidence votes, which has been the source of much friction.
Recently the Assembly has been seen as increasingly inept at passing laws and representing the people. It has turned its attention to minor issues and insisted on exercising its right to question cabinet members so frequently that many people view that as the only thing on which members spent their time. A measure was taken in 2006 after the last dissolution of the Assembly to change the election laws in an effort to improve the process through which members are chosen. The law reduced the number of districts from twenty-five to five with ten members from each district. This is meant to decrease corruption and force candidates to address larger issues. The election in May will be the first to use the new rules and districts, so the benefits of the changes are yet to be seen. Whatever the results are, it is clear that the assembly is not living up to expectations that have developed since the constitution was adopted over four decades ago.
The cause of this problem lays in the fact that when the assembly tries to move forward, it runs into the wall of a government that it has almost no say in choosing. While all countries should be able to choose the form that their democracy will take, they should remember that successful democracies in the world also allow the people to choose the executive branch of government. They do this by either having the elected parliament choose the executive or by direct elections.
Kuwait should move toward one of these systems, probably parliament elected system because it already has a parliament and this way offers more flexibility in how to choose members of the executive. While replacing the Emir is out of the question, the unwritten requirement that the Prime Minster be a member of the ruling family should be revisited. The person best able to manage the government and bring the assembly and cabinet members together does not necessarily have to be a member of the ruling family.
On the matter of how the executive is chosen, currently the constitution states that the Emir appoints the prime minister after traditional consultations. The constitution could be changed but that would be difficult since it requires two-thirds of the National Assembly and, more importantly, consent of the Emir who would be giving up power in any meaningful change. The most likely solution would be for the Emir to agree to more consultations and possibly naming a non-royal to the post. There is any number of compromises along these lines that could be reached such as the Emir offering a handful of names to the assembly to choose one as prime minister.
The problem with relying on the agreement of the Emir is that, while the current Emir Sabah is very progressive and open to reforms, future Emirs may be less willing to share power. An attempt should at least be made to change the constitution along the lines discussed here then fall back to agreements if that should fail. If changing the constitution fails, then reformers can work on laying the groundwork for future permanent progress.
Even in the advanced democracies, there is a continuing process to improve their systems. Kuwait made major progress in 2005 by allowing women to vote and run for office. The country is now learning the lesson that is once the expectations of democracy are implanted, the public will demand progress. Now that the structural problems of the Assembly/Cabinet relationship are coming to light, it is time to find a resolution that gives the people what they demand.
Logan Barclift is a policy analyst at the Institute for Gulf Affairs.