Kuwait: Road to Assembly I

Kuwait Times
Published Date: May 10, 2009
By B Izzak, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Kuwaitis go to the ballots on May 16 to elect the 13th National Assembly and the second in a year. Sixteen women are among 210 candidates competing for the 50 seats in five constituencies. Each constituency elects 10 members while each voter is allowed to cast a maximum of four votes.

Here is a detailed analysis on each electoral district, highlighting the main races, political groups, main candidates and other issues.
First Constituency
Sharq-Rumeithiya-Salmiya

The first constituency has 19 residential areas starting from Sharq in Kuwait City to Mishref in the south. The main areas are Rumeithiya, Salwa, Salmiya, Bayan, Hawally, Dasma, Shaab and Daiya. The district has 69,132 voters, including 37,519 women and 31,613 male voters. The largest area in terms of voters is Rumeithiya with 15,752 voters, Salwa with 12,333 and Bayan with 10,838 voters. The constituency is the third largest in terms of size of voters after the fifth and fourth districts.

Forty-five candidates are contesting the elections including all the 10 MPs in the outgoing National Assembly in addition to three former MPs from previous assemblies. There are also two female candidates - former minister Maasouma Al-Mubarak and prominent women activist Fatima Al-Abdali.

The constituency is divided almost equally between Sunni and Shiite voters. It has a large contingent of tribal voters from the Awazem tribe. The constituency also has a good number of liberal and Sunni Islamist voters, and a strong presence of well-known Kuwaiti families like the Awadhi and Roumi.

Two main lists are fighting the election officially. Both are Shiite while the rest are contesting on individual bases. The National Islamic Alliance (NIA) and its allies are fielding four candidates. They are former MPs Adnan Abdulsamad and Ahmad Lari of the NIA, former minister and MP Youssef Al-Zalzalah and the representative of the Hasawi Shiites Hamad Taher Buhamad.

The list is tipped to bag at least three seats because it has strong support among Shiite voters. The addition of Zalzala's and Buhamad's supporters to the NIA voters has the list in a very strong position. The second list is Peace and Justice which is fielding former MP Saleh Ashour and Hassan Naseer, the secretary general of the group. The list also has a strong following among Shiite voters and is tipped to win at least one seat. Other Shiite candidates include former MPs Hassan Jowhar and Hussein Al-Qa
llaf, who are running as independent and have strong chances of maintaining their seats.

On the Sunni side, all five former MPs are seeking re-election. They include Mukhled Al-Azemi who is backed by Islamists and from his Awazem tribe. Hussein Al-Huraiti, a former justice minister, is also banking on support from his Awazem tribe. Others include Abdulwahed Al-Awadhi and Abdullah Al-Roumi, who are backed by the strong support of their respective families.

Former MP Mohammad Al-Kandari is the official candidate of the Islamic Salaf Alliance and is drawing support from his large Kandari family. But he has two other contenders from the same family, Abdullah Al-Kandari and Jassem Al-Kandari, who was a member in the 2006 Assembly.

The Awazem tribe did not hold its tribal primary like last year and thus its votes are expected to be divided. Besides Mukhled and Huraiti, former MP Ahmad Al-Shuhomi, Mubarak Al-Harees and Mohammad Hamad Al-Rasheed are other leading Awazem candidates. Rasheed is also backed by the Islamic Constitutional Movement. Wasmi Khaled Al-Wasmi, the son of former MP Khaled Al-Wasmi, is a liberal candidate also banking on support from the Awazem and liberals.

Among the two women, Maasouma Al-Mubarak is tipped to make history by becoming the first female MP after she made history in 2005 by becoming the first Kuwaiti female minister. Shiites had all their five members from this constituency and are expected to maintain their numbers or even increase it by a sixth seat.