Politics

The politics of Kuwait takes place in a framework of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, whereby the Emir is the head of government. The State of Kuwait (Dawlat al Kuwayt) has been ruled by the al-Sabah dynasty since approximately 1752.

The constitution, approved and promulgated on November 11, 1962, calls for direct elections to a unicameral parliament (the National Assembly). Despite the regular holding of relatively free and fair elections to the National Assembly, Kuwait is not a democracy by the usual definition of the term because the prime minister is not responsible to parliament. Nonetheless, Kuwaitis enjoy more civil and political freedoms than the citizens of most non-democratic states. Kuwait's parliament is the strongest of those found in the monarchies of the Gulf. Kuwaitis take some pride in the rarity of political violence in their country, especially given the frequently high levels of violence found in neighbouring states and elsewhere in the Arab world.

Executive Branch

The Emir

The Emir's powers are defined by the 1962 constitution. These powers include appointing the prime minister, dissolving parliament, promulgating laws, referring bills back to the parliament for reconsideration, and appointing military officers. According to the Kuwaiti Constitution, the Emir's person is immune and inviolable. Therefore, criticism of him and his actions are not permitted in the national media.

Upon the death of Emir, the Crown Prince succeeds. The new Emir then selects a crown prince, though in practice he can do this only after the members of the ruling al-Sabah family arrive at a consensus on who should be appointed. The crown prince must be approved by an absolute majority of the members of the National Assembly. If the new crown prince fails to win approval from the Assembly, the emir submits the names of three eligible members of the family to the Assembly, and the Assembly selects one to be the crown prince. The emir and the crown prince must be direct descendants, in the patrilineal line, of Mubarak the Great. Successions were smooth in 1965 and in 1978. The succession of 2006 caused a major political crisis.

Kuwait experienced an unprecedented era of prosperity under Emir Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah, who died in 1977 after ruling for 12 years, and under his successor, Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, who died in January 2006. The country was transformed into a highly developed welfare state with a free market economy. During the seven month occupation by Iraq, the Emir, the government, and many Kuwaitis took refuge in Saudi Arabia or other nations. The Emir and the government managed Kuwaiti affairs from Saudi Arabia, London and elsewhere during the period, relying on substantial Kuwaiti investments available outside Kuwait for funding and war-related expenses. His return after the liberation in February 1991 was relatively smooth.

Events in 2006

On January 24, 2006, the parliament voted to remove the ailing Emir Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah from power. Such a vote is unusual in the Arab countries. He was Emir only briefly, after the death of Emir Jaber al Ahmed al Sabah on January 15, 2006.

The cabinet nominated the previous Prime Minister, Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah, to be elected Emir. He won the majority of the votes in the parliament and then became the 15th Emir of the state. He then appointed the minister of Emiri Diwan Naser Almohammad to be prime minister.

The Government

The constitution gives the Emir the authority to appoint the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister in turn appoints the ministers who form the government, conditional on the approval of the Emir. A new government does not require a positive vote of confidence from the National Assembly. In practice some Cabinet portfolios - Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Defence - are reserved for members of the ruling family, though the constitution does not require it. The Prime Minister, as a matter of political custom, is also a member of the ruling family.

At least one member of the government must be a deputy who won election to the National Assembly. The 1992 cabinet included six elected members of the National Assembly, the most of any cabinet in Kuwaiti history. The current cabinet has only one elected member of the Assembly, the constitutional minimum.

All members of the cabinet, elected or not, also hold seats in the National Assembly. The size of the cabinet is limited to one-third the number of elected deputies of the National Assembly (i.e. sixteen).

Legislative Branch

The unicameral National Assembly (or Majlis al-Umma) can have up to 65 deputies. Fifty deputies are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. Members of the cabinet also sit in the parliament as deputies. Because cabinet members need not be elected members of parliament, this means that the Prime Minister can in effect appoint up to 15 unelected members of the National Assembly. The constitution limits the size of the cabinet to 16, and at least one member of the cabinet must be an elected deputy.

Although the Emir maintains the final word on most government policies, the National Assembly plays a real role in decision making, with powers to initiate legislation, question government ministers, and express lack of confidence in individual ministers. For example, in May 1999, the Emir issued several landmark decrees dealing with women's suffrage, economic liberalisation and nationality. The National Assembly later rejected all of these decrees as a matter of principle and then reintroduced most of them as parliamentary legislation.

The Cabinet ministers, together with the PM, are excluded from voting only on one occasion: when MPs - after grilling an individual minister - vote on a motion of confidence. MPs frequently exercise their Constitutional right to grill Cabinet members. Parliament's sessions and interpellations of the Cabinet ministers are aired on Kuwaiti TV uncensored. MPs also have the right (so far never exercised) to question the Premier, and then table a motion of non-cooperation with the government, in which case the Emir must either dissolve Parliament or replace the Cabinet.

Judicial Branch

The Judiciary in Kuwait is an independent body. In each administrative district of Kuwait there is a Summary Court (also called Courts of First Instance which are composed of one or more divisions, like a Traffic Court or an Administrative Court); then there is Court of Appeals; Cassation Court and lastly - a Constitutional Court which interprets the constitution and deals with disputes related to the constitutionality of laws. Kuwait has a civil law system; Islamic law is significant in personal matters. Kuwait has not accepted compulsory ICJ (International Court of Justice) jurisdiction.

Human Rights

Out of the six Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), human rights record in Kuwait is, arguably, the best. The country has no political prisoners; and Prof Ahmed Al-Bagdadee is believed to have been the last prisoner of conscience for 'blaspheming Islam'.

There is a permanent Human Rights' Committee in the Kuwaiti parliament, and the Kuwait Society for Human Rights also operates. However, there have been numerous allegations that the police and other Kuwait's law enforcement agencies torture suspects to extract evidence.