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Kuwaiti polls close but voters doubt crisis will end
Sat May 16, 2009 2:00pm EDT
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By Rania El Gamal and Eman Goma
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaitis voted in their third election since 2006 on Saturday with few confident that the polls will end a tussle between parliament and cabinet that has delayed economic reforms.
The new assembly will have to vote on a $5 billion economic stimulus package seen as crucial to helping the financial sector of the Gulf Arab country overcome the global financial crisis.
The measures were approved in March by the caretaker cabinet, which is dominated ruling family members and by ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who dissolved the last assembly.
The measures must also be approved by the new assembly.
There are no political parties in Kuwait, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, but conservative Islamists and tribal figures who have opposed government economic plans and pressed ministers over accountability are expected to dominate again, even if they do lose some votes amid growing public frustration.
"The deadlock will continue because the champions who caused the deadlock last time will come back," said Abu Khalid, a voter in his 60s, while waiting his turn to cast his vote.
Um Ahmad, a female voter, echoed those fears: "I know it will be worse than the last parliament."
Some 210 candidates are running for the 50-seat assembly, including 16 women hoping to win their first seat in a conservative country where politics remain a man's world. About 384,790 Kuwaitis are eligible to vote and over half are women, who were given the right to vote and run for office in 2005.
"God willing there will be a change in the next assembly, and women will make it. I voted for women because they were convincing in their campaigns," Refaat Abul Hassan, a female voter in her 50s said after casting her vote.
"People don't want to vote, everyone is rejecting the deadlock and want change," said Etab Khalaf, a voter in her 40s.
Polling got off to a slow start, with campaigners handing out bottles of water on a hot, dusty day. By 4 p.m (9 a.m. EDT), about 38.27 percent of voters had cast their ballots, according to state news agency KUNA. Polls closed as scheduled at 8 p.m.
MORE DEADLOCK?
Analysts expect Islamists to lose some ground in the polls, which could boost liberal candidates and women's chances of winning a seat, but that may not be enough to end the deadlock.
"Islamists could lose some seats but it won't be enough to change the general mood in parliament," political analyst Shafiq al-Ghabra said. "The ball will be in the government's court again to move forward with development."
Although its political system resembles Western democracy more closely than that of any other nation in the Gulf Arab region, Kuwait has fallen behind its neighbors who have transformed themselves into commercial, financial and tourist centers that attract foreign investors. Continued...
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