Voters in Kuwait were casting ballots on Tuesday for a third time in as many years, with little hope of ending a prolonged gridlock between the ruling family and assertive lawmakers after the judiciary dissolved the legislature earlier this year.
Kuwait is alone among Gulf Arab countries in having a democratically elected assembly that exerts some checks on the ruling family. But in recent years, the political system has been paralyzed by infighting and unable to enact even basic reforms.
But in March, Kuwait’s Constitutional Court annulled the decree dissolving the previous parliament, which was elected in 2020, effectively restoring it. A few weeks later, the ruling Al Sabah family dissolved that parliament for a second time, setting up this week’s vote. Another member of the royal family, Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al Sabah, the current emir’s son, was appointed prime minister in 2022 but has recently emerged as a lightning rod of criticism.
As speaker, al-Ghanim “was willing to use all the tools that he had within the parliament to really concentrate power … in a way that was more authoritarian,” Diwan said. His harsh criticism of the prime minister, a prominent member of the ruling family, was “really striking,” she added.
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